Slayers Magical School
by Rune Simbriant
Summary: Do you wish to visit the life of the young Lina Inverse as she grows and learns magic? Follow me to the library and I will share with you the many tales of the infamous mischeivous sorcereress as well as her friends Lazlore and Delly. Chapter 4 now up!
1. Default Chapter

SLAYERS MAGICAL SCHOOL

*AN:It would help a lot if you first read one of my other stories, namely 'The Beginning of a Sorceress.'For those who don't want to take the time to go find and read it, here's a quick explanation.My character, Rune Simbriant, is Lina's mentor and friend.Physically, he looks about 17 but is over a thousand years old, has blue hair with overly long bangs that are held back by a white headband.He was red eyes and wears a white tunic with a blue vest and matching pants.Golden shoulderguards adorn his shoulders along with a blue cape.

Also, this fic depicts a nine-year-old Lina so don't expect any 'underdeveloped' jokes. Other than that, she's still the same, albeit a little weaker magic-wise.I hope you enjoy!The rest of the Slayers cast isn't directly involved, but some will make cameos later on.C&C welcome as always.

SLAYERS MAGICAL SCHOOL

(For lack of a better title)

_BOOOMMM!!!!…_an explosion shook the room, toppling a stack of books down onto the desk and sending one of the thicker leather-bound tomes sliding across the desktop into an uncapped bottle of everdark ink.The momentum of the runaway book knocked over the bottle, causing the blue-haired mage to jolt upright in his seat as a rapidly growing black splotch consumed the paper.

He tried to save what little of the ink was left.Everdark ink didn't come cheaply.The magic in the dragon scales used to create the ink radiated a soft glow, allowing a scroll or spell to be read even in the dark, hence the name.

Rune sighed as he finished sopping up the mess with a handkerchief.The explosion had come from downstairs.Most likely, near the library since that was where his three students were _supposed_ to be studying their lessons.

One could never tell what would happen next with those three around.It wasn't so much Lina he was worried about, but rather Delly and Lazlore.Lina was okay by herself.She knew what spells she could play with and what to leave alone.Lazlore wasn't much of a problem either, but Delly was another story.Her unbounded rivalry with the flame haired sorceress was amusing at times, but their relentless bickering could even get on his nerves.

_BOOOMMM!!!!…_The ancient mage leaned back in his chair, pondering what amusing situation they had brought upon themselves this time.The wood groaned its protest as his full weight shifted onto the two hind legs.He ignored it and patiently waited for whichever of the three would come to his door first.

***

The young sorceress's feet were a blur as they carried her through the dimly lit halls of the guild.Normally, she didn't mind wandering the seemingly endless corridors.The lush tapestries and expensive paintings lining the walls gave her something to look at during their study breaks.But at the moment she didn't have time for that, much less anything else.

As she rounded a corner her foot caught on an untucked portion of the green carpet, sending her careening face-first into the floor, and uttering a curse that was too obscene to be heard coming from the mouth of one so young.The distraction only delayed her for a second, however, as she quickly picked herself up, continuing on towards her destination.

Perhaps if she hadn't been in such a hurry she might have realized it would have been a lot easier to simply Raywing her way up to the next floor, but unfortunately, the mind of a nine-year-old didn't always tend to think rationally under the most extreme of circumstances.In fact, her thinking had become quite chaotic after the events of the past few minutes had unfolded.Everything she and the others had done to try to diffuse the situation had only made it worse.

Given the circumstances, this was the most rational solution she could come up with.The only things working against her were time and the sheer size of the building.Why did they have to make the guild so big?The faculty didn't even use half the rooms during the summer session._Stupid architects!_

Racing up a flight of stairs so old they creaked their age with every step, she nearly bypassed the room she so desperately sought.She almost laughed at the irony of it.Almost.

Leaning against the doorframe for support, it took her a minute to catch her breath.After readjusting her cloak to hide the disastrous condition of her clothes she gently rapped on the large rune-inscribed door, giving him a moment's warning before her intrusion.She wouldn't want him to think anything was amiss, even after hearing the two explosions.

With a deep breath she slowly pushed it open, wincing as the wood creaked with every inch.When the opening was wide enough she poked in the shaggy mass of red hair that was her head.

"Um…hi, Rune," the junior sorceress nervously laughed as she absently wiped her hand across her left cheek to calm the itch that had suddenly developed there."Are you busy?"

The blue-haired mage swiveled in his chair, raising an eyebrow as he noticed the strong odor of singed hair and clothing permeate into the room from behind her."No, not particularly.Is something wrong?"

"Not really.I was just wondering something," an uneasy smile forced its way across her lips.She hoped he would take the question _really _well."How does one unsummon?"

"Wha-what!?" he facefaulted out of his chair."Why do you need to know that?"

That wasn't quite the reaction she had wanted.Time to go."Oh, no reason. "She started to close the door.Maybe she would be lucky enough that he wouldn't press the subject further.

"Lina."

_Okay, maybe not_, she winced.

She sighed.Just two more inches and the door would have been closed.

The door swung back open and Lina reentered the room.She held her breath as Rune glanced over her.Hopefully he wouldn't notice her clothes were singed and charred in patches all over her body; with the way her cape was draped over her it kept most of the visible evidence hidden from the casual eye.

_Please don't look any closer…Please don't look any closer…Please don't look any closer…The entire time she stood rigid as a post, even when her mentor approached and fell to a knee beside her, brushing aside the cape to get a closer look at her arm._

_Do grownups always do exactly the opposite of what you want them to do?..._

_"Ow—mmm…" the flame haired child caught herself as Rune's fingers brushed over a light burn on her arm she had forgotten about._

"So that hurts, does it?" he asked without looking up.

"N-no."

"Oh, really?"The soft warmth of a healing spell swathed the burn in a soft glow, relaxing her tense muscles a bit.She let out a small sigh of relief as the uncomfortable tingling sensation subsided."Mind telling me what happened?"

"Why whatever do you mean?" she said, putting on her most innocent and ultra-cute expression._Maybe this will throw him off._

"I mean this," he retrieved a hand mirror from a nearby shelf and held it up before her face, displaying the dark smudge mark across her left cheek."What is going on?"

"Oh t—that…We w—were just…just…"What would be a good excuse?Oh, wait!She had one!"We were playing outside.I just happened to fall down in the dirt."_Yea, that's it!_

An amused smile crept onto his face."And how does that explain why your clothes are burned?"

_Drat!He noticed!"Hehe.Well…"__How am I going to explain this?_

"Why don't you start at the beginning, preferably, with the truth this time."

Lina bit her tongue as she tried to look every which way except at him.She didn't want to lie to him, but she didn't want to tell him the truth either.They were going to be in enough trouble once he found out how much damage had been caused because of them.

"I'm waiting," his foot tapped impatiently against the floor.

"Well...um, you see…we—Delly sort of summoned this elemental and—"

_BOOOMMMM!!!!…_

"What was _that?_"

"That was…um probably Delly…using her wand of fireballs."The last part of her sentence came out as barely more than a whisper.It was her hope the words would pass by unnoticed, but when Rune's eyes suddenly dilated to the size of grapefruits she knew that hope immediately went down the drain.

"Come on," the blue mage grabbed her by the hand and proceeded to lead her down to the library.

Just as they reached the entrance to the library the heavily ornamented wooden doors exploded outward as a giant wave came crashing down upon them.

"What the—" was all Lina heard her mentor gasp before she was swallowed up by the living tsunami.Inside, she was tossed and turned about like dirty laundry in the wash bin.Icy water found its way into her nose and mouth, nearly choking the young sorceress as she desperately tried to find which way was up.

Seconds dragged on for what seemed like forever before the water finally pulled away of its own accord, continuing on its path down the hallway.Lina fell to the floor and before she knew it Rune was kneeling at her side with a concerned expression etched onto his face.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she replied through a fit of coughs meant to clear her lungs.Some of the worry dissolved from his face, but not all.She made sure to flash him her victory sign as reassurance."Really, I'm okay."

The blue-haired mage nodded and stood up.He uttered a few incantations and a warm glow enveloped both of them as the surrounding air began to swirl in a miniature cyclone.After a few seconds their thoroughly soaked clothes were dry once again, and the spell evaporated along with the remaining moisture in the air.

Lina examined her clothes with a new child-like curiosity._I have to get him to teach me that one._

"I suppose that was your elemental friend?"

Before she had a chance to answer an enraged female elf burst through the doorway brandishing an ebony wand appeared.She wore a green and silver sleeveless tunic.A glittering cape flowed out behind her with her family's royal emblem embroidered across the center in a deep forest green.Her neck-length blond hair was kept back from her face by a simple headband, and a pair of oversized gloves covered her now balled up fists.

"Come back here or I'll—" the rest of the sentenced died in her throat the moment she spotted Rune and Lina.She quickly straightened her composure after that.It wasn't considered proper for an elf of noble blood to lose her temper in front of others."Master Rune," she smiled politely, "I'm glad you're finally here.That _thing…has been causing all sorts of ruckus in the library."_

Lina watched as he arched an eyebrow toward the elf after spotting the wand."What are you doing with that?"

"Oh this?" her innocent smiled widened as she quickly hid the magical rod behind her back."I was…attempting to banish that thing back to its home plane.But now that you're here there is no need for me to do such."

"What about Hilda?Where is she at?"

Lina gently tugged on his sleeve, drawing the mage's attention."It is Hilda's day off.Remember?"

Rune sighed, shaking his head in defeat.

_Maybe I shouldn't have told him that._

The elf girl cringed suddenly as she heard another voice rapidly approach from within the library."Delly, wait up!"A moment later a boy with long blond hair in a ponytail stretching down to his waste appeared.He was perhaps just over a decade old and apprenticed to another mage, but for the summer he was under Rune's watchful eye.Like Lina and Delly he wasn't dressed in the typical grayish robes normal apprentices wore.Instead, he was dressed in yellow robes that swayed with his every move.

"We can't just leave the library like this!" he panted as he caught up to her."What are we to do if Rune comes down?There is no way he couldn't have heard those explosions.He'll freak out if he sees you turned the carpet to ash!"

"Shut up, Laz," the elf hissed through clenched teeth.Her grip on the wand tightened as she seriously considered using the magical item on the boy.

"I'm serious, Delly," he continued on, still oblivious to the presence of the other two."We could get in some serious trouble for this.It's bad enough we summoned the elementals.How do you think he'll react when he finds out the one who provoked them in the first place was Lina?"

_Uh oh.___

The flame haired sorceress stiffened at the last comment.She tried to laugh off the tension as she felt her mentor's eyes roam over her."Hehe..oops?" she offered a halfhearted smile._Now we're gonna get it for sure.All because of that idiot!_

"Ahem," Rune coughed as he shifted his gaze away from Lina.

Only then did the boy seem to take notice of their presence."S—sir!?" his face blanched."I—I didn't realize—"

He waved off any explanation for the moment."We'll talk about it later.Are all of you okay?"

It took a moment, but all three students nodded.

"Good.That was my primary concern.I don't care what happened in the library as long as everyone is okay."

Lina released the breath she didn't even realize she had been holding._Maybe things won't turn out so bad after all._

_"But this discussion will be continued later."_

_Or not._

"I'll go take care of your elemental friend," he explained as a smile crept onto his face."You three get to start cleaning up your mess."

"Yes, sir," all three groaned in response.

"When I get back I had better not find any animated brooms or mops running around like last time.Do you understand, Lazlore?"

"How many times do I have to say I'm sorry?" the young apprentice replied."I didn't know that was going to happen.At the time, chopping it up into a million pieces seemed like a good idea.How was I supposed to know it wouldn't work?"

Lina covered her mouth with her hand to hide the smile that was forming.She couldn't help it, and neither could Delly apparently as she overheard a snicker come from her direction.

Last week Laz had been stuck with mopping the floors.To get the job done faster he had used a spell to animate half a dozen mops.Unfortunately, he had lost control of the spell, and being unable to bring it to an end he took an axe to the mops, hacking them up into dozens of pieces. It might have been a good idea at the time, but his actions only made the situation even worse.The magic fueling the animated objects grew each severed piece into a brand new mop, leaving him with a problem that was three times as big.

The guild really had been in desperate need of a good cleaning, but the fact the mops emptied out all the rooms in the west wing and dumped everything out front in the courtyard had caused the faculty to slightly overlook this 'good deed.'It took nearly a week to get everything back inside.

"Go ahead and get to work," Rune motioned towards the library."Once I've dealt with the water elemental I'll give you a hand."With that he turned and marched down the hall.

Once he disappeared out of sight everyone headed back into the library.

"This is all your fault!" the adolescent elf hissed as they reentered the library."You simply had to bring Master Rune into this, didn't you?Now everything will be blown out of proportion!"

"Well, you certainly proved you couldn't control that elemental!" Lina snapped."Anything that happens now is your fault!And at least I had enough sense not to blab anything about the fire elemental that nearly set the library on fire, Lazlore!"

"I didn't know you were going to get Rune!"

"Are you suggesting my skills are inadequate, Lina?"

"No, I'm saying you have jellyfish for brains!What kind of a moron summons a spirit she can't control?"

"Hey guys, don't forget we have work to do!"

"Why you impudent little—"

"Stubborn, pig headed—"

"Guys?"

And on and it went for an untold number of minutes.It was a petty rivalry that had started between the two girls the day Delly Truxa had first arrived at the guild.The young elf of noble birth had been visiting the guild with her father.While he had been in a meeting with the headmaster she had taken to roaming the halls, which was how she came to meet Lina.

Delly just happened to walk in on one of Lina's lessons right as the flame-haired sorceress was casting what the elf believed to be a fireball (In actuality it was Bomb Sprid, a spell that looked exactly like fireball, but did very little damage and hardly radiated any heat.At the time Rune had no death wish for himself or any of the other members of the PMS.A child with the ability to cast fireball was not a good thing).It was a common spell, at least among the more powerful mages.But when Delly witnessed a girl not even a decade old master such a spell she simply refused to acknowledge she could be outdone by such a young human girl.She was nearly thirty (which is equivalent to about a human ten-year-old) at the time and for all her years of study she still had yet to learn such a spell.So she declared the rivalry was on.

"Would you guys help me and stop arguing for just a minute?"Lazlore grumbled as he broke the girls apart."I don't want to be here all night."

"Mind your own business," Delly hissed.

"Hey, it's not my fault you two don't like each other!"

"Yea, its not his fault nobody likes you, Delly."

"What did you say!?"

"Oh, I think you heard what I said perfectly well," the petite red head replied.

The elf fumed a moment before giving her response."You're lucky an elf of noble blood never allows her anger to overrule her sense of reason."

"That never stopped you before."

"Grrrr…"

"Why don't you two have a spell duel and get it over with?" Laz chirped as he started to picked up a series of books from the floor.

"Good idea!' Lina replied as she turned to her rival."What do you think?Are you up to it, Delly?"

An impish grin spread across the elf's face.Somehow Lina found it fitting for the girl."Oh yes, I'll teach you a lesson you'll never forget."

"We'll see," she returned the grin."But let's take this outside, shall we?"The sorceress spun around, opening the nearest window.Jumping out of the opening, she sped towards the open forest on the glide of a Raywing.

"Hey, wait!I didn't mean now!" Laz shouted as Delly did the same, leaving him all alone in the library."I don't want to do this alone!Half the library must be on the floor!" But his cries fell on deaf ears as both girls were already well out of hearing range.

***

"You have to do better than that, Delly!" Lina taunted from where she levitated high above the trees.

"Flare Arrow!"  
With the grace of a sparrow the young Inverse effortlessly made her way around the barrage of flaming arrows only to swoop down on the enraged elf.As she made her way past she deposited her own spell on top of Delly.Nothing big.Just something that would keep the game going.She was just starting to have fun.

A moment later she heard Delly howl as several gallons of icy water were dumped on her.

The flame-haired sorceress giggled as she moved out of range again.Aqua Create was one of the more interesting spells Rune had taught her, and she was glad he had.She hadn't had this much fun in a long time.Lazlore wasn't much of a challenge, at least not when it came to magic.Outside of anyone that was a full mage, Delly was the closest thing Lina had to competition.

"Lina!Get down here!" the elf screamed as Lina continued to giggle."Alright, fine!Levitation!"And up she went after the girl.

"Come on, Delly.Betcha can't catch me!"

"Freeze Arrow!"

The flying shards of ice only struck empty air as she floated out of the spell's range.

"I think your aim is getting better."

The elf stuck her tongue out at Lina, reminding her of a small red flag waving in the windSpeaking ofwinds, that gave her an idea."Bomb Di Wind!"

"What the—AHHH!!!" the elf shrieked as she was caught off guard by the sudden gust of wind.The spell caught her in the chest, hurtling her back towards the ground in an uncontrollable spin.Only after she concentrated all her power into another Raywing did she manage to pull herself out of the effects of the spell, coming to a stop less than three feet from the ground."Lina, that wasn't fair!"

The sorceress shrugged nonchalantly."It's not my fault you weren't paying attention."

"You think of everything as a game, don't you?" Delly hissed as she zoomed up to where her rival floated."What would you have done if I had been injured?I'm certain Master Rune wouldn't appreciate you tossing around spells of that magnitude so carelessly."

"Oh lay off, Delly."Lina closed her eyes as she crossed her arms behind her head.The motion was meant to both stretch the muscles in her arms and neck as well as provide a reason for her not to look the elf in the eye.She really hadn't meant for the situation to turn out the way it did.It had been her assumption that Delly would have seen the spell coming in time.

_I guess everyone is wrong sometime._

"I'm serious, Lina!How would you like it if I had done the same to you?"

"I wouldn't have been caught off guard in the first place."

"Why you…!" Delly batted a gloved hand at the young Inverse.

"Hey, watch it!"She barely managed to dodge the attack in time as she lowered herself below the elven sorceress."Those gloves do increase your strength, you know!It might hurt if you hit me!"

Delly swung and missed once again only to be shoved back by another gust of wind."Maybe now you'll realize how I felt!" she shouted."And don't think for a moment I'm about to let you off that easily!"

Lina smiled again as they began to circle around one another.This was going to be fun, and whether Delly realized it or not Lina actually enjoyed their rivalry.It provided an excellent distraction from studying all those spells.Plus, these mini-battles they always got into gave them a chance to practice and hone their skills incase they were ever caught in battle.

_At least that is the explanation Rune gives me every time I ask why he never interferes._

"Gotta catch me first!"Lina sped off again, flying deeper into the forest.Delly wasn't far behind.Her screams were still loud enough to hear over the wind rushing around her ears.

"Lina!"

A small laugh arose to taunt the young elf as their flight path zoomed around and between the great trees.This was so much fun!It was so much better than waiting around in the library.If Delly wasn't such a tightwad she would probably be enjoying this too.Oh well.It was her loss.

"Gotcha ya!"A pair of arms wrapped around her waste in a vise-like grip.

"Hey, let go!"With the added weight her ability to maneuver was severely compromised.

"Not until you—"

"Delly, let go before we cra—"

_THUDDD!!!…_Both sorceresses smacked face-first into the trunk of a giant tree.

Reflexively, Lina wrapped her arms and legs around it."Koala," she made the stupid joke to take her mind off the pain, but it did very little to help._That really hurt…_

Sliding down the tree barely registered in her mind, much like the resulting _THUD_ did from landing on her elven rival.After a minute she managed to clear her head enough to understand the reasoning behind Delly's cursing and roll off of her.

"Watch what you're doing, you red-headed heifer!"

"Shut up, you pointy-eared freak!"

"How dare—"

"Do you want to make something of it, Delly!?"

A spark of magical energy flared up between them.Lina barely managed to jump back in time before it ignited into a giant ball of flame. She escaped harm, as did the elf, but the unexpected spell had provoked her temper._What is she trying to do, fry us both!?_

"DELLY!!!"More dangerous magical energies began to gather, this time around the sorceress, as she pulled them into herself.Her unbridled anger channeled the power, twisting and weaving the flows into the workings of a new spell._Two can play this game.The little twerp is going to pay for that!_

"I—It wasn't me!" the elf insisted, sensing the growing power within Lina.The air around her crackled with energy.In an effort to put some distance between them she scurried back on her hands and feet."I don't know how to cast a spell of that level…not without my wands!"

The explanation did little to quench Lina's temper."Oh no, you're not getting off that easy!"A glowing ball of energy began to form in her hands.It wouldn't do any serious harm, but it would make the next few minutes of the elf's life very unpleasant.

"Look!" she shoved out both hands, palms forward."See, I'm not holding one right now!I—I dropped the one I had!"

"…Always wondered how these things worked…Hey, there you guys are!"

"Huh?"The girls looked up at the voice.Not ten feet away stood Lazlore midway through the brush.They couldn't help but notice the long slender rod was leveled in his hand, or the fact the end just happened to be tipped in their general direction.

Delly instantly recognized the item for what it was."Laz, what are you doing with my wand?"

"Oh, this is yours?" the boy asked with a curious tone."I found it on the ground over there.How do you get this thing to work?I rambled through a dozen command words, and it didn't do a thing.Where—OW!!!"

"Gimme that!" She snatched up the wand from out of his hand while he was busy rubbing the newly formed lump on his head."Do you know how dangerous this thing is!?"

"That hurt!Why did you hit me?"

"This wand shoots out a delayed fireball, you idiot!You wouldn't have been able to see it shoot out the spell unless you were using your mage sight!And you almost fireballed both of us!"

"I did?Oh, that must have been what that flash was.I thought you two were still caught up in your spell duel.Hehe.Imagine that.I almost fried both of you.Haha ha ahahah.Haha ha…ha…he…eh…why are you guys looking at me like that?"

The look of which he was referring to was the death glare each girl gave him.The clear intent of murder hung in their eyes as new magical energies gathered around them.His future suddenly looked very grim.

"Aw come on, guys!It was just an accident!I didn't do it on purpose!Honest, I swear!"

"You had better run, little man!" Delly hissed her one and only warning.

"Because you're gonna pay!" Lina added.

"Ahhh!!!!!!!"

"FLARE ARROW!!!"

"FREEZE ARROW!!!"

"AHHHHH!!!!!!!"

"DILL BRAND!!!"

"BURST RONDO!!!"

"AHHHH!!!!"

While her companion continued firing off spells Delly fished out a new wand.This one was quite different from the ones she used previously.Power positively radiated out of the magical item.This was one of her special wands, specially saved for dire situations. Her father had instructed her to never use them unless absolutely necessary, but in her book, this qualified as one of those.

She took aim and spoke the command word."GAAV FLARE!!!"

"AHHHH!!!"Lazlore dove for the ground, burying his face into the dirt floor.The spell soared harmlessly overhead, continuing on until it met with one of the surrounding trees.Wood hissed and popped as the flame burned clear through the trunk and into the next tree, repeating the process again.And again, and again, and again until at least a dozen trees were engulfed in flames.

Lina and Delly could only stare in shock as the scene played out before them.The trees were already on fire, but the problem didn't stop there.The flames quickly worked their way up, consuming everything in their way.They danced from one branch to another, spreading the plague of fire to the farthest reaches of the forest.If something wasn't done quick…

Meanwhile, Lazlore finally managed to pull his face out of the dirt."L-sama," he gasped."What did you guys do?!"

The two girls looked at each other and blinked.A single simultaneous thought occurred to both of them.

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!!!" they shouted simultaneously.

"You just had to start carelessly throwing around spells again, didn't you?!"

"Oh shut up!You were doing it too!"

"I wasn't the one who pulled out a wand and started all this!"

"AHHHH!!!We're gonna die!!!" Lazlore started running around again, screaming his head off.

_…Crack…_

Lina glanced up at the sound in time to see a flaming branch falling towards them."Look out!" she shoved the elf back right as it crashed to the ground between them.

The elf stumbled back, anger flushing her face, but only until she saw the branch.When she did, she bit down on her glove.What were they to do?

"Aqua Create!" the burning branch was extinguished by another spell from the flame haired sorceress."Delly, I need your help!We need to get—DELLY!!!"

"I have an idea!" the elf replied over her shoulder, dashing for the entrance to the guild."I'll be right back!"

"DELLY!!!"They didn't have time for this!Trying to undo the damage caused by a Gaav Flare wasn't an easy task.The spell would burn through its target and then continue on until it expired, dealing damage to anything in its path.Putting out the fire on her own would be next to impossible.She would need the elf's help for this.

Lina turned back to the burning blaze.How were they ever going to get through this?

***

The annoyed mage strolled through the empty halls.

Banishing the elemental back to its original plain of existence had been more trouble than it was worth.The spell itself had been fairly simple to cast.It was only the fact the damned elemental had refused to stand still.In the end he managed to get the job done, but not without destroying a few vases, cabinets, and other priceless fixtures in the process.

Rune sighed.The headmaster would probably dock his stipend this month just for the damages caused by his students alone.

_I really need to have a talk with those three.They're getting to be expensive._

_Out of the corner of his eye he caught the movement of a shadow and was nearly thrown aside as Delly rushed pass him straight into her room.She didn't even bother to close the door._

_What in the world!?_

__"Delly?"

No answer came.Instead, a loud clatter filtered out into the hall from the open doorway.Whatever the elf was doing it was creating quite a ruckus.The noise only lasted for a few seconds before it died down and she rushed out of the room.

This time Rune grabbed her by the arm as she brushed pass."What's the rush, Delly?Did something go wrong in the library?"

"Wrong?" the young elf jumped. "N—no, nothing is wrong.The library is fine, Master Rune."

Something about the air caught his attention.He caught a whiff of…smoke?"Do you smell any smoke?" he asked the young elf.

_Darkness, I hope that's not what I smell._

_"Smoke you say?"The color drained from her face despite the pleasant smile she wore."No, there's no smoke.Everything is perfectly fine.No need for you to go downstairs or anything.Hehe.I'll just go out to the forest with this wand of fire extinguishing for, you know, target practice.Bye!"_

"What are you talking…about…" the mage let the sentence drop.Delly had already zipped down the hallway, leaving him feeling a little more than confused. _How much trouble can they get into in one day?_

As he started after her he just happened to catch a glimpse out the window.He could see a cloud of billowing smoke rising up from the treetops of the nearby forest.

"Now what did they do!?" the mage gasped as he took off in a dash._This is probably why some predators eat their young.An hour hasn't even passed since they told me about the elemental!_

***

"AQUA CREATE!"

"BOMB DI WIND!"

The combined effects of the spells only managed to slow the fire instead of halting it.By the time they managed to put out the fire in one area and move on, the previous area would be engulfed in flames once again. 

"Lina, this isn't working!"Panic gripped the boy's voice as the fire roared all around them.A burning fallen tree popped, spraying red hot embers at the boy, forcing him to jump back."We're only kids!We can't do this alone!"

"I know that!" the sorceress snapped."But we have to keep trying!I think Delly went to get help!"

"I got it!" a familiar voice rang.

"Delly!" she glanced in the direction of the voice._Talk about good timing!_

The elf ran up alongside the two of them, brandishing a new wand.

"What's that?" Laz asked.

"This is a wand of fire extinguishing," the elf replied matter-of-factly.

"Then why don't you put it to some use!" Lina said, gesturing towards their fiery surroundings."Or have you forgotten about our little situation?

The elf steeled herself and stepped forward."Very well.Stand aside, _children."Speaking the arcane words to activate the stored magic, she took aim with the wand and…_

_Poof!...a small white cloud shot forth from the ancient wand only to dissipate into the air several feet away._

"Uh oh," Delly grimaced, biting down on her lip.

"What do you mean 'uh oh?'"

"I guess the wand is out of charges."

"You idiot!" Lina pummeled the little elf into the ground."Now what are we gonna do!?"

"AHHHH!!!!!" Lazlore was running around again like a chicken with its head cut off."WE"RE GONNA DIE!!!!"

"Hey!" screamed the sorceress."Would you shut up!"

_This isn't the time to panic.We have to stay calm, Lina thought.But another glance at the growing blaze quickly changed her mind.__Okay, so maybe it is the perfect time to panic!_

"AHHHH!!!!!!" her own terrified scream joined in synchronous harmony with Laz's.

"Demona Crystal!"

Powerful strands of magical filament shot out, flowing around the rocks and the trees, enveloping everything in a mist-like vapor.Out of the vapor ice crystals began to form.At first they were no bigger than a snowflake, but as the seconds passed on the quickly grew in size.

Each snow flake, cold as the frozen tundra in the farthest reaches of the north, attached themselves to the trees and the surrounding flora.They quickly grew, forming a sheen of ice as each fragment combined with its neighbors.The layers spread, consuming everything within a protective membrane the heat of the fires could not penetrate.

With nothing to burn the flames began to slow and stutter, becoming only a fraction of what they had been only moments before.In less than a minute the fire was gone, leaving behind a frozen and charred forest.

"W—Who did that?" a shaken Lina asked.

No one seemed to know.It was as if the spell came out of nowhere.

"Hey, who's that?" Lazlore asked, pointing to the lone figure approaching them.

"Eh?"Both girls looked up.

A slender woman hopped lightly over a burnt and frozen trunk to land in the tiny ice-covered clearing.Despite the autumn chill, she wore only a short dark blue robe of silk, which opened in front to allow freedom of movement.Shoulder guards perched atop her shoulders, from which a black cloak hung.The shimmering fabric flattened over the dark blue greeves on her legs and the cuffs of her arms.A wide brimmed hat managed to hide most of the woman's features except for a long ponytail of auburn hair that spilled out from underneath.

"Are you children alright?" a small fist pushed the hat back to reveal a lovely face partially hidden beneath uneven bangs barely held back by a black headband.A silver crescent moon was embroidered on the band, and under it a large oval sapphire was nestled in the center of her forehead.White-gold earrings dangled from her elongated earlobes, contrasting against he rich milk chocolate color of her skin.

_Pointy ears…dark skin… Lina's heart froze in her chest._

"Look out!"Another of the elf's seemingly endless supply of wands appeared in Delly's hand."It's a dark—mph!!!"

The rest of her words rolled into an incoherent mumble as Lina desperately tried to think of what to do.Dark elves were certainly not native to Zephilia.They seldom came to the surface.Their underground cities, deep within the catacombs of the earth, were said to be quite large, rivaling even a city the likes of Saillune.Of all the races of the underdark, the drow were the most widely feared and renowned.Their keen talent for cruelty was something few people, even the retired heroes of Zephilia, cared to discuss out in the open.

"Delly, what should we do?" Lina cried._I don't know if I have any spells that would be powerful enough to fight her with…_

When no answer came she chanced a quick side-long glance over her shoulder.What she saw she wasn't sure what to make of. Emerging from the bushes with a hand clamped over Delly's mouth was Rune.

"Rune…?

"Take it easy," the blue-haired mage replied, gently prying the wand from the elf girl's grasp."You have nothing to fear from her while she is here.Her arrival was expected.Darkness, where do you keep getting these things?"

"Mmmph!!!" the young elf squirmed, flailing her fists frantically.

"Calm down, Delly."

"Y—you were expecting a dark elf to come visit?" the only other male present finally spoke up."But…but…"

Rune nodded as he released the young elf from his hold."It's not exactly a social visit, mind you, but you make it sound like a bad thing.Do you find something wrong with that?"

"It is, isn't it?I mean…I thought…aren't they supposed to be evil?" the now very confused Lazlore rambled on nervously.

"She's a dark elf!" Delly proclaimed."A _drow__!They should be killed on sight!"_

"Not necessarily."

Lina numbly stared at the scene, too shocked to say anything.This was all so confusing.Weren't they supposed to hate dark elves?

Their visitor abruptly laughed, her voice purring out in a deep sensual tone."You should not confuse them so, Rune.Zephilia is not nearly as bad as other providences I have journeyed to.There are several towns of which I know the townspeople found it difficult to distinguish the differences between a light and dark elf.Despite where the elf was from, they did not care.They simply proceeded to attack."

"Eh?"Lina's eyes darted from one speaker to the other."You two know each other?"

The drow's whimsical smile widened."From a long time ago.It has been along time, Blue Mage."

"Yes, you're right," he mused."It's been what, three—no, five hundred years?What brings you here?"Rune slapped his forehead with his palm."Where are my manners?Shadowdancer, this is Lazlore, Delly, and Lina; guys, this is Shadowdancer Duskstar.She is an old associate of mine."

"I just wanted to see how many of the people I knew were still alive.Nice to know there's one constant still here."She bowed deeply."It's an honor to meet you all," she straightened and looked at the children with a smile, Lina being the last to receive her scrutiny.Her eyes, the color of the deepest midnight blue glittering with silver and gold, fell to meet the girl's ruby red ones.

Lina wanted to turn away.Even if she was a friend of Rune, that didn't make her feel anymore comfortable about the dark elf.But there was something strange about her eyes.Maybe it was just the color, or perhaps the narrow slits that made up the pupils.Oddly, they didn't look like the eyes of a killer.They seemed to hold a compassion—a deeper understanding of life.Words couldn't accurately describe what she saw, but that was close to what Lina felt was there.

"Oh, is she yours?" With her forefinger and thumb the drow gently tipped the junior sorceress's head up."Lovely child.Has your eyes but her mother's hair.I envy you."

Lina blinked in puzzlement.The lady thought she was Rune's daughter?

"She's not my child," he replied, "but my student."

"How can you do this!?" Delly burst in between the two, shoving Lina out of the way.She then proceeded to stand in front of the girl, her arms spread out in a protective shield."You're not supposed to be friends with a drow!"

"And why is that?" Rune asked mildly.

Furious, Delly spun to face her teacher."Because…she is evil!All drow are evil!!!"

"This little one is full of fire, isn't she?" Shadowdancer asked as she admired the young elf."She must be a charming one."

She spun around to face the distant relative of the underdark.Her mouth opened as if to speak her mind but thought better of it.Instead, she turned on her heels and stormed off towards the guild in a huff.

"Please excuse her," Rune apologized with a shake of his head."She—"

She dismissed it with the wave of her hand."I will hear nothing of the sort.It was to be expected."

He grimaced, the expression betraying his own feelings about the matter, but he let the subject drop."Alright.So what brings you here?I know I'm not that important of a person."

"A matter of miniscule importance, but I would rather discuss the details in a less open space."

A slight nod was his only reply."Lina.Lazlore.Would you two check up on Delly.Make sure she is okay."

The petite sorceress took that as her cue to leave, more for their own sake than his.Rune had explained to them that if anyone should ever approach him to discuss business concerning the guild or otherwise he would promptly request them to run an errand for him.He didn't want them to overhear anything that might jeopardize their wellbeing.

"Okay!"Grabbing Laz by the hand, she dashed for the guild in a trailing cloud of smoke with the screaming boy in tow.

"And don't forget to finish cleaning the library!"__

Once the children were out of earshot the conversation resumed.

"You have interesting children."Her tone was admiring, but her eyes, filled with mischief, teased at him.

"Those _children_ are…let's just say I'm glad they're not mine."He wrinkled his nose at her, receiving only a wicked grin in return."They are very skilled with magic, and I could handle perhaps one, if any of them were mine, but not all three.That would be…"he cringed before even finishing the sentence.

A delighted laugh arose from the dark elf."I understand your reasons.The girl with the flame-like hair, she is your favorite, is she not?"

With a shy grin he nodded."Yea, just don't let the others catch on to that.Jealousy is an evil green-eyed monster, and between the three of them they cause enough mischief already.I'd hate to see their rivalry escalate any further."

The faint sounds of voices approaching in the distance caused Shadowdancer's ear to twitch with warning."I believe we've attracted the attention of the local populace.What do you suggest we do?"

"Head for the guild," the blue haired mage replied, "but keep under cover.I'm sure your presence wouldn't be appreciated if they were to discover you.Just wait inside the doors and I'll be along within a few moments.I will have to take care of the locals and repair what damage my students did."

"You are quite the patient one."

Rune couldn't help but laugh at the droll statement."I suppose so, but patience is nothing more than the act of concealing one's impatience."

Hearing the snap of frozen leaves and branches, Shadowdancer inclined her head toward the blue mage, smiled warmly, whispered, "I will speak with you later.We have much to discuss…" and vanished.

He simply shook his head, staring at the spot where she had been.As far as he could determine, it had never been a teleportation spell that she used.It was enough though that he knew she could handle herself.With a heavy sigh, he turned to face the innermost parts of the forest.

Out of his pocket he produced a silver orb, which he promptly tossed into the air.There it hung, suspended in midair while he began the workings to a restoration spell.

"_Time which has passed be called back once more…"_

From the orb a blinding light engulfed the forest, momentarily creating a dark silhouette of the local surroundings.Magical energies swirled and twisted, struggling to undo the damage that had been dealt.

Trying to resurrect so many plants and trees would take too much time and energy.Turning back time was much simpler, not to mention less costly.Overusing magic could actually contaminate the environment, creating unwanted side effects.This way was best.

At last it was done.With the completion of the spell the icy shell encasing the burnt forest shattered, revealing healthy untouched flora.Now that that problem was fixed he could move on to dealing with the villagers.

With a heavy sigh he turned to face the oncoming crowd.How was he ever going to explain this?


	2. Reprecusions

A/N:  I apologize for the severe delay in between chapters.  College has a way of keeping one constantly busy.  This chapter is more or less a filler.  I will be posting chapter 3 within the next couple of weeks.  I hope you enjoy.  Please R&R.  C&C always welcome.

**Slayers Magical School**

**Chapter 2**

                Lina and Lazlore caught up to Delly as she stalked through the main doors of the Guild.  "Hey, Delly!" Lina called.  "Wait up!"

                Delly spun around, her eyes glittering with indignation and rage.  "What is it?!" she snapped.

                Lina, exhausted and shaken from what happened earlier, only stopped running, and Lazlore skidded to a halt behind her, arms pinwheeling so that he wouldn't crash into the smaller girl.  He was therefore the first to recover and looked the furious elf girl in the eyes over his spectacles.  Straightening his disheveled robes, he said softly and seriously:  "Master Rune wants us to clean up the library, and we had better do it, no questions asked."

                "But he's with that-that…" Delly sputtered as she struggled to find the appropriate words, "murderous, back-stabbing namagomi!"  Her anger's hold over her was apparent as her balled-up fists, each hanging at her sides, were visibly shaking.

                Lazlore sighed.  "Look…we're in enough hot water as it is…Let's just get to work and hope that he'll forget about what we did with whatever news that dark elf has to tell _him."_

                Lina finally regained her breath.  "Laz is right.  This is guild business…"

                "I don't think so," Lazlore interrupted, his expression worried and grim.  "I saw Master Rune's face as we left…" he looked seriously at the two girls whom he rarely asserted any authority whatsoever.  "My dad used to wear that look whenever someone came along, and I never did find out how he would know, but that person would have bad news to bring him.  Whoever this Shadowdancer Duskstar is…she's bad news."

                Delly hopped up and down in frustration.  "All the more reason that we have to get rid of her!"

                "No, what _we are going to do is go into the library…and clean up the mess," Lina told her firmly.  "This isn't any of our business, Delly.  It's Rune's."_

                Lazlore removed his glasses to rub at his face with the back of his sleeve.  "Well then, let's get about our own business and clean up the library."  Putting them back on his nose and shoving them in place with his middle finger, Laz and Lina each grabbed Delly by a wrist and hauled her bodily to the blackened doors of the library.

                The sun still had yet to sink beneath the horizon by the time they managed to put back all the books where they belonged and gather up the ones whose covers were so badly scorched that their titles could no longer be read.

                Lina groaned.  "Rune's going to kill us…" she stared morosely at the pile of some seven tomes sitting on the table.

                "Maybe not…" Lazlore paged through one.  "The only things that got burnt off these were the covers…and the title pages.  We could bring them to him and ask him what they used to be.  I think they could rebind the books and simply print out new title pages and indexes…right?"

                Delly came out of one of the little corridors between the giant bookshelves.  "Here's two more…" she carefully laid the blackened volumes on the table along with the others.  "At least none of the books were actually destroyed, thank the gods…"

                "No thanks to you, Delly!  If it hadn't been for you and that stupid fire elemental…and then summoning a water elemental…What were you thinking?!"

                "Are you claiming it's _my fault now, Inverse????" Delly burst out._

                "Don't tell me you're deaf even _with those ears of yours, Delly!" Lina poked at the rounded tips of her own ears._

                "Why you snotty little brat…!"

                Lazlore dropped his face into his hands.  They were starting again.  _Dad taught me I should never yell at girls but… "Will you two just give it a REST already?!" he burst out, looming over the two smaller girls.  "At the rate you keep going we'll have to rebuild the whole guild form the ground up!"_

                The two girls stared with wide open eyes, surprised by the uncharacteristic show of temper from the only boy in the small class.  "Let's get these books up to Master Rune's study.  I'm tired, I'm dirty, my head is really hurting, and I want a bath, before dinner.  We've gotten into enough trouble for one day already!" The yellow-robed mage in training made a small stack of some books and gave Lina and Delly the rest.

                "…Yeah…dinner…" Lina whispered.  "I'm hungry…I wonder if there's anything to eat just yet…"

                Subdued for the moment, Delly looked out the window.  The sun was only beginning to set.  "I don't think so…they wouldn't have started cooking in the kitchens yet.  It's too early."

                _Growl…_

                "But I'm hungry _now," Lina whined.  Where her stomach was concerned, the world could go hang as long as she was first fed.  Despite that, the trio trudged up the hall with the ruined books._

                "Maybe we can wheedle a snack from Cook Merry…" Lazlore mumbled as he tried to shoulder open Rune's study door.  Delly reached out with her free hand and turned the knob.  "Thanks…" they bumbled in and set the books wearily down on a side table near the door.

                "Hey…what's that smell?" Lina sniffed at the air.

                Delly looked at her disdainfully.  "Don't tell me you're smelling things now, Inverse…"

                "No…" Lazlore sniffed eagerly.  "It…it smells like…"

                "Would you children like a snack?"

                Lina gulped.  _That voice…!  Immediately, she forgot all about the yummy smells that they had been scenting just then._

                The Terrible Trio turned as one to face Rune's desk.  Firmly ensconced in his chair, was the drow woman they had met in the forest before.  Leaning on one arm of the chair, her legs carelessly draping over the other, Shadowdancer had clearly made herself at home.  Her hat, shoulderguards, and cloak were neatly piled on top of a traveling duffle and a long blackwood chest, against which leaned a long gold and silver priest's staff.  The dark elf wore only her robe and the sparse armor.  She held a scroll in one hand and a mug in the other, a pleasant smile curving her lips.

                "YOU!" Delly cried, pointing an accusing finger at the dark elf.  "How dare you sit in Master Rune's chair!  You'll pay for your insolence!"  She reached into her cloak and out came another one of her endless supply of wants.

                "Oh my, what a cute wand."  Shadowdancer sat up in the chair.  "May I see it?"  Without waiting for an answer, she gestured, the billowing sleeves of her robe masking the movement of her hands.  The wand pulled itself out of Delly's hand and darted to the elf's dark cousin.  She caught it in the returning sweep of the gesture and turned it over admiringly.  Delly looked horrified.

                "She…she didn't say a single spell word…" Lazlore whispered in shock.  "Just how powerful are dark elves in magic, Lina?"

                "I don't know…" she croaked back, suddenly very afraid.  They watched Shadowdancer frown.

                "Did you know that your wand is damaged and needs to be repaired?" she looked up at Delly.  "Well, allow me to fix it for you…"  Again, not waiting for an answer, the strange drow moved her arms again.

                Lina noticed then that she had not seen the dark elf's hands.  The robe's sleeves seemed to conceal them with her movements, and that struck the young sorceress as odd.  Another thought came to her.  _If she really wanted to kill us, she'd have done it in the forest and made it look like an accident with magic.  It goes against everything I know of dark elves, but…_

                "There!  All done!" the wand sailed up into the air as Shadowdancer tossed it at Delly.  The young elf caught it in alarm.  "The gem's spell matrix was cracked.  It would have exploded in your face had you used it, child," the drow told her.  She unwound herself form Rune's chair and moved over to the sink at the far wall.  "You children can wash your hands and faces here.  I warmed up some water for you."  She moved over to another small table.  "I made some mint tea and baked some butter cookies.  I'm sorry I couldn't make up something easier…but would you like some?"

                "Mint tea?!" Lazlore exclaimed.

                "Butter cookies?!" Lina echoed.

                "Of course we would love some!" the two human children chirped in unison.  Both Lazlore and Lina scampered eagerly for the sink and found warm, soapy washcloths and clean, hot water in the basin.  Faces and hands soon washed of grime and spotless, they found large mugs filled with sweat golden-green tea and a large dish of pale buttery yellow cookies waiting for them on the low table near the couch where Rune sometimes received his guests.  With a cheer Lazlore and Lina climbed onto Rune's couch and reached for their mugs.

                "Stop!" Delly shrieked, just as her classmates were about to sip the tea.  "Have your greedy stomachs made you forget so easily that she's a dark elf?  That drink could very well be poisoned!"

                "Well, its not advisable for pregnant women to drink too much mint tea, but I don't think either of you girls are in any danger of that," Shadowdancer said mildly, walking up to Delly and wiping her face clean with swift scrubbing movements.  Similarly, she wiped Delly's hands clean and before the elf girl could snatch them out of the drow's grasp, Shadow placed a mug of tea in her hands.  "Now let's calm down and relax.  I would like to get to know the students that the Blue Mage has taken under his wing," she herded Delly onto the couch and sat opposite them, pouring herself a fresh mug of tea form the large brass pot and nibbling on a cookie herself.

                Lazlore and Lina already had cookie crumbs all over their cheeks.  "Man, these cookies are so good!" Lina said around a mouthful.  She immediately began to choke.

                Shadowdancer handed her the mug of tea and gently made her sip.  "Is that better?"  When Lina nodded, she laughed.  "Eat slowly…there are plenty more where that came from."

                Lazlore put down his mug with an expression bordering on ecstasy.  "Aaaah…I love mint tea…but this is the best I've ever tasted!"

                "I'm glad you like it," Shadowdancer smiled and happily poured him some more.  "I mix the tea myself.  It's made of different types of mints, including catmint."

                "You make it yourself?!" Lazlore's eyes went wide.  "I've been trying to and I can't get the mint to dry right…show me how, please???"

                "It's quite easy.  Of course I'll show you…Lazlore, wasn't it?"

                "Yup!  Lazlore Ragandi.  I'm going to be one of the best artificers the world has ever seen!" he told her, poking himself in the chest with his thumb and puffing with pride.  It was obvious Lazlore had forgotten that the woman in front of him was a dark elf.

                Lina groaned.  "Oh boy, here we go again…"

                "Spare us the long-winded history of your illustrious ancestor, Lazlore," Delly said, momentarily forgetting about the tea she had been staring distrustfully at.

                "Hey, I wasn't…"

                "You _were.  Do it when we're not around, okay?  We've heard it a thousand times."_

"I'm certain you will be a great artificer with hard work and research, Lazlore."  Shadowdancer smiled reassuringly at the drooping young mage while wiping up some tea that Lazlore had spilled on the table with a cloth she had drawn out of her sleeve.

                Lina followed the glint of the bluish-black metal that formed the drow's gauntlet with her eyes.  The glove was fingerless, revealing the dark elf's slender fingers, which were long and elegantly boned for such small hands.  It took her a moment to realize what struck her so very wrong from the moment that she looked at the chocolate-skinned dark elf, and she almost dropped her mug with that realization.

                "What's wrong with your hands?" Lina blurted out without thinking.

                A soft hush filled the room as all eyes fell upon the dark elf's hands.  Delly's eyes widened in shock while Lazlore silently gaped.

                "Oh, this," Shadowdancer smiled.  Their innocent child-like curiosity seemed to amuse her.  She held her hands up to the light for all to see.  It appeared like the hand of any other elf, slender and lithe.  The bright light of the overhead lamp glistened against her skin, creating a dark silhouette of the limb, minus one digit.  "This was a condition I acquired long before I ever came across your sensei."

                The flame haired child leaned in closer.  "Really?  How did you do that?"

                "Lina," Lazlore spoke up as his voice slowly returned, "you really shouldn't ask something like that.  My dad always said it was rude to ask such a personal question unless you knew that person really well."

                "It is?" she frowned.  "I'm sorry.  I didn't know."

                "Lazlore's father is correct, but in this case it does not bother me.  It is only natural for children to be so curious.  I take no offense.  But I think I shall save the explanation for another time.  I would not wish to bore you with tales of my past."

                "Oh, but you wouldn't," Lazlore stressed.  "You see, we can hardly ever get Rune to tell us anything about his past.  We only know what we do about him from whispered rumors in the guild.  We've heard that he's really old, and that he was alive during the Kouma—_oof!" A carefully placed elbow by a certain young elf wedged itself into his ribcage._

                "Be quiet, Laz!" Delly hissed behind clenched teeth.

                "He wouldn't tell you anything, hm?" the dark elf mused.  Another mischievous smile had made its way across her face.  "I don't suppose he ever mentioned his time spent on the islands off the coast of Dils?"

                All three students suddenly huddled in closer, their eager ears listening intently to devour any scrap of information Shadowdancer might share with them about their mysterious mentor.

                "It appears he did not," her smile broadened.  "I'm sure he wouldn't disapprove _too much if I told you about our fishing trip."_

                "You two went fishing together?"

                She nodded.  "Yes, it was on the Island of Mipross.  We first arrived there several decades after it stopped drifting away from the main continent…"

***

                A high-pitched whine grated out from the iron hinges as they swung in time with the door as it opened.  Four sets of eyes, two human and two elven, moved as one to watch the newest arrival to their party walk in.

                It was a young man, perhaps in his late teens, who entered the room.  His feet carried him about three steps before he realized something was amiss.  The room was quiet and peaceful.  No arguing, no random acts of destruction; only blissful silence.  Well, not quite blissful, not if one took into account the less than soothing sound of children snickering coming from the other side of the room.

                Strangely enough, everyone did seem to be enjoying themselves.  Even Delly, who openly displayed the ancient grudge match carried on by the light and dark elves, carried the hint of a smile on her face and was doing a miserable job of trying to hide it.

                When the snickering finally managed to die down a hush silence fell over the room as puzzled red eyes blinked beneath a curtain of long blue hair.  "Alright," he finally spoke, turning to Shadowdancer. "What evil dark secrets have you been sharing with the children?"

                "Oh, nothing too serious," the faintest of smiles tugged at the corners of the dark elf's mouth.  "I was simply sharing several fond memories of our past exploits."

                "Oh really?" the blue haired mage asked with a wary tone.  "Anything in particular I should be aware of?"

                More snickering from the children filled the air.  That did very little to offer him any relief.  "Why do I not like the sound of that?"

                "Master Rune," Lazlore giggled, nearly spilling his tea on himself, "you never told us you had been to Mipross Island."

                A sour look masked over his usually calm, boyish features.  "Mipross Island…?" the words slurred out of his mouth just as his eyes came to fix upon the dark elf.  "You just had to tell them about Mipross, didn't you?"

                Shadowdancer's grin only widened.  "It was not my fault you failed to bring along your hiking boots that day.  I didn't expect that dire bear to show up either."

                Rune sighed, trying to cover up the smirk that was slowly forming.  It was an amusing memory.  Guild business had dragged him to the island where by coincidence he had met the dark elf who was also scouting the area.  Unfortunately, the bear had made the ill-fated decision of also showing up at that moment.

                "Oh yes.  I remember that scene all too well," he spoke with a crooked grin.  "As I recall, the exact words behind your reasoning of fleeing from the bear were, 'I don't have to outrun the bear, I just have to outrun you.'"

                The smile that play upon her lips was as charming as a red rose sparkling with the fresh morning dew in the sunlight—much like that day long ago on the island.  "Did you expect any less of a reply from a dark elf?"

                Knowing better than to trade more words with her, Rune shook his head in defeat.  "I was still relatively young then."

                "You still look young now, the same as you did then—a teenage boy."

                His right eyebrow twitched in irritation.  "I'm going to let that pass, Shadow."

                The smile remained plastered on her lips.

                Once he managed to regain his demeanor he turned to his three students.  "Did you get the library cleaned up?"

                "Yup," Lina answered with a triumphant grin.  "We even brought you the books that got damaged."

                "I see."  Approaching the table, he picked up one of the tomes, turning it over in his hand to examine the extent of the damage.  Pieces of burnt leather from the cover flaked off under his grasp.

                Lazlore set aside his cup of tea and stood up.  "You see, only the covers and the title pages were destroyed.  We think the rest of the books can be saved though.  New covers won't cost _that much, will they?"_

                "No, they wouldn't," the mage looked up.  "And I suppose the damage could have been far worse.  Why don't you three get cleaned up.  I think Merry is going to have dinner ready within the next hour."

                "Okay," Lina nodded and jumped down from the couch with Laz following behind her.  They both promptly exited the room, but not before grabbing another butter cookie in each hand.

                Delly lingered for another moment as if unsure of what to do next.

                "Is there something you would like to say, Delly?"

                The elf maiden shot a final glance at her evil counterpart before answering.  "No, thank you, Master Rune."  Then with the flick of her hand, Delly batted aside a golden tress, seemingly to dismiss the dark elf's presence.  She moved to follow the others.  Upon reaching the door, however, after making sure Rune's back was turned to her, she pulled down her lower eyelid and stuck out her tongue at Shadowdancer in a final show of disgust before disappearing from the room.

                "Cute child," Shadowdancer commented.  "I think she seems quite taken with me."

                "If I were in a better mood I might be laughing."

                "Oh?  And what has you in such a foul mood?" the dark elf asked mildly.

                _"You."  Rune let the smile drop.  "Shadow, why are you __here?  Please, do tell.  The last time I heard, you were supposed to be __dead."_

***

                A small pair of hands anxiously shifted through the contents of an ancient wooden trunk.  Clothes, books, shoes, even a stray set of old wands were sent flying through the air as the young elven sorceress tossed anything that wasn't what she wanted over her shoulder.

                "Delly, what are we doing here?" a slightly annoyed Lina grumbled as she removed a pair of green leggings that had come to rest on her shoulder.  The elf had dragged them up here to her room for some as of yet unexplained reason.  She sighed.  It probably involved some type of plotting against the dark elf.

                "Ah-ha!" Delly laughed triumphantly.  In her hands she held the object of interest.  "I found it!"  To the others she presented an oval shaped mirror set in a silver frame.  Gold trim lacing flowed over the ridges, forming an S-curve that spiraled over the setting.  By the light of the table lamp the well-polished metal reflected a blinding bright sheen that caused the other two students to squint.

                "What are you doing with one of those?" Lina asked in a disinterested tone.  She knew what the item was.  The runes engraved into the framework had told her that.  If she was going to do what Lina thought she was Rune might not be too pleased when he found out about it.

                Adjusting the spectacles on his nose, the oldest of the trio stepped up to get a better look.  "You have a scrying mirror?  Neat.  Where did you get that?"

                "From my mother," the elf replied at she set the magical item down on a nearby table.  "She left it with me incase I ever felt the need to contact home.  It was an heirloom of hers before she gave it to me."  A grin appeared, stretching from one corner of her mouth to the other.  It wasn't hard to figure out what she planned to do with it.  "Fortunately, I know a variation of the spell this is enchanted with that can be used to view other people."  She began a soft chant.  The reflection in the mirror wavered.  A mist clouded over the picture, swallowing it up swirling cloud of silver.  After a moment they pulled back to reveal the scene of her room from above.  "Good.  It still works."

                Lazlore's eyes were glued to the mirror.  Lost in his fascination of artifacts, the other two watched the boy as he waved his arm about to test the enchanted item.  He smiled in delight when his image did the same.  "Neat."  He began attempting other ways to test the mirror.  When he started making faces Lina decided it was time to put his silly charade to an end.

She beaned him over the head with her fist.  "Stop acting silly!"

                "OW!  You didn't have to hit me!"

                "Whatever."  Ignoring any more complaints from the boy, she turned back to the elf.  "Are you sure this is such a good idea?  What if you get caught?  I don't think Rune would appreciate being spied upon."

                "I will not be caught!  Besides, I'm not worried about Rune.  It's the dark elf I don't trust."

                "Try explaining that when you do get caught."

                "Shut up!"  She repeated the incantation once again.  Another cloud of mist blanketed the mirror, obscuring the picture before drawing back to reveal a new scene unfolding within their sensei's study.  Rune was still apparently conversing with the strange dark elf that had abruptly made her presence known only a few hours earlier.

                _"You're gonna get caught…" the flame haired sorceress's words hummed in her ear._

                "Shut up!"

                Lazlore, knowing better than to become involved with a skirmish between the two because usually his interference led to both girls channeling their anger back on him, stayed silent as he patiently observed the mirror.

                The blue haired mage paced across the room, marching east to west and vice versa.  His hands, both of which were clasped behind his back, tightly gripped at the shaft of his cane.  The jeweled eyes of the twin dragon heads emitted an eerie red glow as if to reflect what his current mood was, and as if that wasn't an adequate display of his emotions, his face was also set in a deep scowl.

                Meanwhile, the dark elf was sitting on the corner of the couch with an elbow propped up on the padded armrest.  In her hand she was nursing a fresh cup of tea.  Wisps of steam rose from the dark liquid in lazy spirals as she idly stirred it with a silver teaspoon.

                "Are they saying anything?" Laz leaned in closer to get a better view.  "I don't hear—"

                "Shhhh!!!!" both girls hissed as one.

                "Sorry…" he replied with a small voice.

Whether Laz was aware of it or not the girls could sense that tension hung in the air like a thick veil as neither party attempted to so much as communicate with the other.  Moments drifted on in silence with only the occasional _ting_ of the spoon as it briefly made contact with the sides of the teacup.

With a grim smile, Shadowdancer looked up from her cup and broke the silence.  "Back in the forest with your students, you said you were made aware of my upcoming arrival.  How did that come about?"

"I lied," the mage replied with a hiss.  He stopped and turned to her, moving in a single swift motion.  "I never had a clue you were coming.  How was _I_ supposed to?  I only said that because it was the first thing that came to mind, and it was the easiest way to keep Delly from shooting off any of her wands at you."

"Oh," the simple reply sounded empty and hallow, as if she expected something more of an answer.

Rune's frown only deepened.  "Where do you get off simply appearing out of nowhere like that?" he scolded.  "You disappeared in the middle of a battle over five hundred years ago, leaving no word of how you are doing, and then suddenly pop up here one day unexpectedly.  Do you realize how long Milgazia and I searched through that labyrinth for you?"

"An explanation would be in order, wouldn't it?"

"It would be nice," the mage grated out.

The stirring stopped as she contemplated an appropriate way to explain everything.  "Well…" it started out as a tired sigh, "I didn't know where you were…and I was badly hurt…so I hid for a long time…and well…I didn't know where Milgazia had gotten to and when I found out you'd settled in Zefiria, I'd had too many Mazoku to deal with…"  She returned to twiddling with the teaspoon some more.

Rune scowled furiously at her, his fists curling even tighter around his cane.  "I thought you were _dead._  I almost had a heart attack when I saw you standing there with the children, you know that?"

"I am sorry."  Shadowdancer put down the cup and stood.  "But I really should have died when the ruin collapsed on top of me, but…" she held out her hands and shrugged helplessly.

"A miracle you survived." Rune replied tartly.  "You could have let me know you still lived if you knew where I was."

Shadowdancer shook her head, her long fox's tail of hair swaying with the motion.  "I could not endanger you, the only friends I had in the world."  She stepped up to him and touched his cheek with her fingertips, the gesture filled with fondness and affection.  "I only wished to protect those I cared for the most…My friends."

Rune stared down at her for a long time before he reached up and clasped her hand, engulfing it in his own.  When he spoke, most of his anger had faded, but a small trace of irritation still lined his voice.  "You stubborn, thick-headed, ogre-skulled drow…" he grumbled.

Lina and Lazlore giggled, then clamped their hands over their mouths as Delly leveled an acidic glare their way.  The two human children still snickered as they went on watching.

Rune set aside his cane so it was leaning against his hip, and then dropped his other hand on top of the much smaller dark elf's head and proceeded to mess her already unruly mop of hair some more.  "Why wouldn't you let us protect you too?  Friends look out for each other, and it's a _two way thing."_  Shadowdancer giggled as he rubbed his knuckles on her skull, and Rune laughed in bemusement.  "But I suppose trying to argue my point is useless now.  There are only two theories about arguing with women and neither one works.  At least you are safe now.  I presume that's why you finally came to visit."

Shadowdancer stopped laughing.  "If only that were true."  She sighed and pulled her hand out of his.  "I fear that the circumstances of our meeting aren't quite so pleasant."

"See?  I _told_ you she had bad news to tell him…" Lazlore hissed to Lina.

"Laz, be _quiet.  _I want to hear what they're saying," Delly snapped back.

Rune groaned.  "Just like the old days…trouble follows us around like it's _tied_ on," the mage closed his eyes and mused.  "Well, that's true for _some _of us more than others.  Anyway, what is it now?  Mazoku insurgency in the kingdom of Dils again?"

"If only it were that easy," Shadowdancer replied.  She pointed to the chest sitting in the corner.  "The answer is there."

Rune turned to look at the chest.  "That's your magical chest, isn't it?  Where you keep all your things?  Darkness, I honestly think you keep a whole _household_ in your little box of horrors."

"Well," Shadowdancer laughed, "that's rather true, since…it _is_ a chest of holding and easy portability…" she strode to the blackwood chest and knelt.  "All my worldly possessions are in here.  But there is something here I desire with all my heart to be rid of."

"Now you have me curious, Shadow," Rune said, picking up his cane and moving to stand behind her as he peered over her shoulder.  "You of all of us were the packrat…and I've never known you to throw anything away or want to get rid of things. What do you want to show me?"

"Something I discovered in my travels…"  Shadowdancer laid her hands on the chest, whispering.  The edges of the chest suddenly flared, covered with blue-silver sigils, revealing the powerful dweomers that protected the contents of the chest from theft.

Lazlore 'oohed' and crowded closer at the mention of a magic chest, all but climbing on Delly's back to see, and finally squeezed in next to her.  "A spatial-being, paradimensional chest!  I wonder how she transports it…does it shrink into a toy-sized thing or does it follow her around and stuff?  Man, what I wouldn't give to look at the magical—"

"Will you hush, you artifact-obsessed nutcase?" Delly complained, leveling another glare at Lazlore.  "I want to see what this thing is!  It can't be any good for Rune-sensei!"

Lina scowled at Delly's high-handed attitude, but she admitted that she too _wanted _to see what that thing was.

Before unlatching the old blackwood chest the dark elf paused.  Her ear twitched irritably as if it were trying to shake off an unpleasant itch.  Eyes narrowing, a dark air fell over her face.  "We're being watched."

Her face may have remained impassive, but inwardly Delly cringed.  A wave of dread chilled her to the bone like a dunk in the icy waters to the north.

Lazlore looked at Delly anxiously.  "What are you going to do?" he whispered, cerulean eyes wide.

"Shut up!" came the reply, quick and simple.  She dared not speak much more for fear she would lose her composure.  For a moment she was tempted to break the spell but willed herself to remain impassive.  She refused to show any weakness in front of the others.

"And so we are."  The mage glanced up with his eyes, seemingly to glare at Delly through her own mirror.  "Something will have to be done about that."  Taking cane in hand he uttered a soft chant, bring the amber orbs in each mouth to life againB.  With the flick of his hand he planted the cane into the floor where it stood upright of its own accord.

The moment his cane hit the floor the picture captured in the mirror collapsed back into the mists until only her reflection stared back at her.  Delly tried making an attempt at recalling the image, but received nothing for her efforts.

The magic of the mirror hadn't been deadened.  Of that, she was sure.  It was still possible to call up the mists, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't bring up a picture.  Frowning, she beat her fists against the table, nearly jarring the enchanted item.  "I think Master Rune put up some type of magical shield, and it's blocking my mirror."

"That's what you get," the flame haired sorceress cooed in her ear, "for scrying on Rune.  You should have known better.  Come on, Laz.  Dinner should be ready pretty soon."

"Hey!" the elf protested as they proceeded to move toward the door.  "You're just going to leave like that?  Don't you want to know—"

Lina shot her a tired glare.  "Of course I do!  But now Rune knows he is being watched.  If we keep this up he will just get mad.  Then we'll really be in trouble.  If you stop now he might not say much of it."

"But…but…"

"Just let it go, Delly," Lazlore sighed, "at least for tonight."  When her shoulders sagged in defeat, he reached over and lifted her chin, forcing the downtrodden elf to look him in the eye.  He slipped her a wink.  "Don't take it the wrong way.  We're tired.  That's all.  You're not the only one curious about Shadowdancer.  I wanna see that chest she has, and I'm sure Lina is anxious to know what is going on between her and Master Rune."

Delly's faced seemed to brighten somewhat.  "Are you suggesting we try something else?"

He nodded.  "Yea, but now that they're on to us any chance we had of glimpsing what they are up to is gone for today.  We should wait till tomorrow.  Then we can maybe sneak in and steal a peek at their stuff."

She tossed him a skeptical glance.  "And how are we supposed to sneak in with all those wards Master Rune has set?  He'll be sure to have them ready and waiting for anybody now."

"We have Lina, here."  His hand swung around to clap said sorceress on the back, punctuating his statement.  "She knows how to get in."

_Fwam!!!…_cracks spiraled out in all directions from where the young artificer's face had imprinted itself in the tiles of the stone floor work.  "You idiot!  You're not supposed to tell anyone that!" Lina flamed.

There was no reply from Lazlore, though a large round lump appeared on the back of his head with a soft little _poik_ sound.

Delly's eyes narrowed at her.  "How would _you_ know how to get through the wards?"

"I might as well tell you since blabbermouth, here, already started," she sighed.  "Rune has been teaching me longer than the two of you.  You know those notes he is always writing?  He keeps those locked in his cupboard, I know where the key is.  Sometimes he would leave me in his room alone.  When he was gone I would sneak into the cupboard and looked at his notes."

"You've _read _his notes?!"

"…Not exactly so don't get any ideas.  Almost all of his notes are spelled to keep any unwanted eyes from reading them.  I only found one I could read, and on that one it listed all the wards he had set in the room to keep intruders out and how to disable them."  She shrugged.  "I guess he forgot to enspell that one."

Something tickled at the back of the elf's mind.  If Lina had known this all along then the girl could have told her at any time, and yet, she hadn't.  That fact gnawed at her insides, fueling the fires that already burned within.  She hated people keeping secrets from her.  "Why did you not mention this before?!" she snarled.

"I didn't think about it," Lina grinned, and then with a sinister glint in her eye added, "…and besides, it was fun to watch you squirm when you got caught."

Flames lit up in the eyes of the infuriated elf.  Not for one second was she going to believe Lina had merely 'forgotten' such an important fact.  Lina had wanted her to fail!  "Why you little—"

Before Delly could finish her reply the first bell rang, signaling the call to dinner.  In the blink of an eye, both she and the swirly-eyed Lazlore were trailing through the air as Lina grabbed each of them by the wrist and made a mad dash for the dining hall.

The repeated chants of _"FOOD!!!" _echoed throughout the halls, serving as a warning to all.  The cleaning lady out in the hall moved to the side of the corridor and hugged the wall since she did not wish to be trampled.  Three distinct blurs zoomed by, nearly toppling a vase resting on a table.  With the fluid grace learned through the many years of working at the guild, she reached over with the handle of her broom and steadied the vase.  She smiled, watching as the children disappeared down the hallway.

Life was never allowed to become boring here.

_Growl…_a fierce roar unnerving enough to make a lion green with envy rattled the air as Lina's stomach groaned in protest.  It wanted to be fed.  The butter cookies provided by Shadowdancer had posed as an excellent appetizer.  Now that the hunger god had been roused, it demanded more sacrifices, which normally would have given cause for her to leave the dinner plate spotless but not tonight.

Dinner was served the same as always; in the dining room under the fluorescent candlelight of the chandeliers while the kitchen crew amply brought each course of the meal atop a silver serving platter and laid each one out over the white table spread.

That was how the full mage ate.  The apprentices' meals were served with a little less elegance and in a room separate from the main dining hall.  Only one course was prepared for each of their meals.  For today, it was the ever so unpopular creamed mutton, a steak that was so tough it gave on the sense of chewing a rubber ball.  One could chew and chew and chew and never get anywhere with the meal.  It was on par with trying to eat bubblegum, only this dish was considered to be a bit more revolting by the student body. Certainly, it had less flavor than bubblegum did, and you couldn't blow bubbles with it either.__

Lina leaned back in her chair, reaching out with both arms in a cat-like stretch.  Any normal student would have detested days like these, but being the apprentice of one of the better liked mages did have its advantages.  The Terrible Trio had a small habit of popping into the kitchen from time-to-time to grab any snacks the kitchen crew might have handy.

Cook Merry, a rather jolly (as her name implied) and rotund woman of short stature with long dark brown hair with the faintest tinge of gray was beginning to touch the tips of her temples, was well known for making sure the members of the guild did not go hungry.  She always kept a tray of snacks on hand at all times to tide hungry stomachs over until the next meal so whenever the Trio, or anyone else for that matter, stopped by they could always be sure there was something to nibble on.

Around her, however, the Terrible Trio was a special case.  Despite the majority of the guild's opinion of them, Merry found their presence to be quite beneficial.  In return for occasionally bringing in firewood for the stoves (a chore the girls were always generous enough to allow Lazlore to perform), helping to stoke the ovens with a few Flare Arrows every so often, and testing out new recipes, she would always have something extra special whipped up for them.  Today, she had done just that.

Lina eyed her plate, wondering about this latest concoction.  The item on the menu was questionable, at least.  Merry had called it a pie of sorts, not like the ones they had for desert.  This was different.  It didn't smell like any pie she had seen before.  Taking fork in hand, she carefully prodded at the side to break away some of the crust.  A gooey mixture of meat, carrots, and potatoes came oozing out from the open wound followed by a delicious blend of smells that permeated into the surrounding air, providing a wonderful treat for her nose.  Her mouth started to water

But before she could further disembowel the pie, Lazlore's head suddenly popped up over her shoulder.  The artificer's face was a bit messy after having hurriedly devoured his own meal.  Several pieces of crust were glued to his face, held in place by the rich sauce of the filling, but how he looked at the moment was of little concern to him as he eagerly eyed Lina's plate.  "Hey, you gonna eat that?" he muttered, spitting out a few crumbs as he did so.

 "Ew!  Get away!" she cried, snatching away her plate with one hand and pummeling the poor boy with the other.  "That's disgusting, Laz!"

"Ow!" his hands moved to protect his head.  "You were just—OW!—staring at it!  It didn't look—OW!—like you were going to eat it!  OW!  I'm sorry!  OW!  Stop that!"

"Would you please restrain yourselves, _CHILDREN!"_ Delly glowered from her end of the table.  There was nothing pleasant about the sound of her voice as her disgust for their behavior clearly shown through.  "We're at dinner, _NOT_ out in the fields participating in some childish game!"

"Well, he's spitting germs all over _my food!"_

"Am not!"

"Are too! You're going to get cooties all over my pie!" Lina held the plate as far away from Lazlore as she could.

"Cooties!" Lazlore looked affronted. "I'll have you know I'm perfectly cootie-free!"

"Wipe your face! You look like a pig!" Lina threw her napkin into his face.

"Hey, thanks." Lazlore proceeded to scrub all over his lower face.

                Tired of being ignored, Delly slammed her hand down on the table.  "Stop with this nonsense!  I _will not _tolerate having to put up with such behavior!  If you insist on continuing to act like children then I'm going to bed!"

 "Don't let us stop you."

With a growl the elf rose, pushing her empty plate towards the middle of the table.  "Fine then!  You immature brats can stay here and make fools of yourselves.  Goodnight!"

Lazlore watched her go.  "She's going to bed awful early."

Lina yawned while covering her mouth.  "I think she has the right idea though."

"Are you going to eat that?" Lazlore asked once again eyeing her plate.

Her eyes narrowed at the blond haired boy.  With a single sweeping gesture of her hand she grabbed the pie off her plate and shoved it into her mouth, swallowing it whole.  To her delight it carried a pleasant taste.  The mixed flavors of the meat, vegetables, and herbs settled comfortably in her stomach.  The hunger god was appeased.  She would have to let Merry know of her opinion.

"Goodnight, Laz."  Another yawn and she stood to leave.  "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Aw…okay."  He waved, disappointedly.  He had hoped to be able to talk to Lina a bit more.  "Bye bye!"

Lina waved and left the kitchens, snagging her bookbag en route from a hook on the wall near the door. She'd known Lazlore long enough to know when he wanted to talk, and from the way his face fell, he had _really wanted to. __But when you're tired you never think as clearly as you would and should, Lina thought, so she decided it was time to follow one of her mother's maxims: Sleep on it._

Wrapping a ray wing spell around herself, Lina rose into the sky and streaked off toward the village and home.


	3. Blueberry Pancakes and Dark Elves

**Slayers Magical School**

**Chapter 3 (Yes, finally!)******

_                "…Hey kiddo…" the angelic voice cooed into her ear.  The words barely registered within her sleepy head.  She was lost in the foggy maze of a lazy doze, somewhere in between slumberland and the world of consciousness.  Lina didn't mind being here.  It was rather cozy, actually.  Snuggled up in the warmth of the cocoon provided by her blankets, the child felt she could stay there without another care in the world._

                _"…Time to wake up…"_

                There was the voice again.  Couldn't it just let her sleep?  Maybe if she continued to ignore it the voice would go away.

                _"…Come on, sleepy head…"_

                Something pricked at her ear, not like a sharp wooden needle, but rather something soft tickled it like a silken piece of thread.  Whatever it was, it refused to let up.  Her initial response was to roll onto her side so she was facing the other way, protectively sandwiching her ear between her head and the pillow.  That did little to discourage her assailant.  Now the other ear was under attack.

                "Go…away…" her hand came out from beneath the covers to swat at the pesky thing.

                "Don't you want any breakfast?" the voice pouted.

                "Sleep more important," she mumbled back.

                "Even more important than pancakes?"

                That caught her attention.  "Pancakes?" she rolled over, popping one lazy eye open.  An image of a beautiful woman with deep red hair pinned up in a bun and brilliant green eyes that sparkled like emeralds in the sunlight focused in her line of vision.  "What kind of pancakes?"

                Her mother leaned in closer over the bed.  "Your favorite."

                The child instantly bolted upright in bed, tossing the wool covers aside.  Her nose sniffed at the air, taking notice of a particularly pleasant fragrance.  A mask of profound delight radiated from the junior sorceress as all thoughts of sleep were left behind.  _"Blueberry?" she beamed.  "With melted butter and gobs of maple syrup?"_

                Katrina's thin red lips curved up in a smile at her daughter's enthusiasm.  "Don't forget the applebutter topping," she laughed.  "I went to the market early this morning and bought all the ingredients fresh.  If you hurry and get cleaned up, by the time you make it downstairs I should have breakfast ready."

                "You're the best, Mom!" Lina reached over to wrap her in a great big hug.

                The mother's smile widened as she enjoyed the sensation of the hug before she finally had to let go.  "Thank you, dear.  Don't linger for too long."  She rose up from the edge of the bed.  "I'm sure you would hate for your food to get cold before you made it downstairs."

                "Yes, Mom."  She wasted no time in heeding her mother's advice.  Burrowing into her dresser drawer and grabbing a handful of clothing, Lina bolted towards the bath, leaving a trail of socks and other clothing in her wake.

                Soap.  Lather.  Rinse.  A quick scrub behind the ears, a cool dunk in the water, and a little toweling off.  She threw on her clothes and pulled her hair up in a ponytail.  It was breakfast time!

                Breakfast was hot and ready and waiting for her on the table.  Three healthy stacks (healthy being at least eight inches tall by Lina's standards) of pancakes were neatly heaped atop her plate, fresh from the stove.  Alongside those was a chilled glass pitcher of orange juice and toppings for the pancakes, all ranging from maple syrup to her mother's acclaimed applebutter.

                Needless to say, Lina wasted no time in devouring her share of the meal.

                Katrina glanced up in time to see her daughter shovel one of the stacks into her mouth.  "Did you happen to see your sister, or is she already gone?"

                "Nouph," Lina mumbled around a mouthful of pancakes.  "Ie fimfth shee if gomph.  Thiff is gref mumph!"

                "Thank you, dear, but don't talk with your mouth full.  You might choke."

                "Yef, Mumph."  She swallowed and washed it down with a glass of the tangy orange juice.  "I think she already left for work.  I didn't see her upstairs."  _Thankfullly__._

                "What am I going to do with that girl?" Katrina sighed as she watched the second stack disappear from Lina's plate, then the other.  "Would you like some more, dear?"

                She held up the empty plate with an eager smile.  "Yes, please!"

                _Thundundant__…the series of three quick, heavy knocks from the hallway signaled the arrival of an early morning visitor._

                "Lina," her mother asked, taking her plate, "will you please get that?"

                "Yes, Mom."  She jumped down from her chair and headed for the door.  Out from the kitchen, through the family room, and into the main hall she went, ready to clobber whoever it was that was keeping her from her morning meal.  

                _Thundundant__…_

                "Hold your horses!" Lina replied to the insistent knock as she approached the door.  Pulling on the door she found it to be locked, which was a bit unusual.  No one ever locked their doors here except at night.  Mom must have set it out of habit when she came back from the market this morning.

                Finally, she unhooked the latch and opened the door.  "What do you—ACK!!!"

                _"Look out!"_

                Lina was forced to jump back, flattening herself against the wall or be squashed by an out-of-control Lazlore.  The runaway child whooshed pass her down the hallway, his arms wheeling about in an effort to keep his balance.

                Delly wasn't far behind either.  "Good morning, Lina," the elf smiled smugly to herself.

                "What are you looking so smug for?"

                Her Cheshire grin only widened.  "Today, we're going to uncover what that namagomi is up to!"

                "Oh give me a break," Lina sighed.  "You're still hung up on that idea?"

                "Haven't you noticed the way Master Rune looks at her?  I bet she must have him charmed with some sort of glamorie," Delly said with a tone of certainty.

                "A glamorie?"

                "Honestly, Lina! Don't you know anything?!  A glamorie is a spell a woman casts on men to bend them to their will or even make them fall in love with her!" Delly snapped. "We certainly don't want to have Master Rune fall in love with a wicked drow Temptress, do we?"

                "From what I know of Master Rune's classes…they're called _Charm Spells, Delly." Lina replied blandly.  It was too early in the morning for Delly's 'I know more than you do' ego trips._

The young elf paused and flushed as she realized that Lina was right. "Technicalities! What's important is that we must break her spell and reveal her true intentions before she is able to fulfill her plan." She waved it aside impatiently.

                "And that would be…?" Lina cast a suspicious glare.

                "Well…um…" Delly shyly scratched her head.  "I haven't quite figured that out yet.  But I know she and Master Rune are supposed to meet later today.  That'll be out chance to see what she is up to."

                "You've been scrying on them again?"

                "No!  I just…_overheard them talking this morning," Delly twiddled her fingers and looked away._

                "Overheard?" Lina asked suspiciously, raising one eyebrow.

                "You don't think Shadowdancer infected Master Rune with any cooties, do you?" Lazlore asked as he came back to the pair in the foyer.  He made for a strange sight standing there with his arms crossed deep in thought while moving in a circle around the girls without moving his feet.  "Or maybe she's using some of that 'Woman's Magic' my father is always talking about."

                "Women's Magic?"  This was news to Lina.  How come Rune had never mentioned it around her before?

                "I've only heard bit and pieces about it from my dad," Lazlore continued to explain.  "He's never said for certain what it was exactly, but I'm guessing it's almost like cooties.  Speaking of which, I've noticed that cooties seems to be particularly infectious this season.  Maybe we had better warn Master Rune that they are especially bad this year.  I saw Jerome getting some the other day."

                Delly peered around her flame haired rival at the boy.  "And what makes you the expert on cooties?"

                He puffed up his shoulders and chest to complement his pride-filled smile.  "As I am the youngest artificer in Magical Constructs, the other students tend to forget my age.  I've seen cooties get passed around plenty of times, and I know when the guys look at the girls _THAT way I know they've got cooties bad."_

                "Ewww…" both girls chorused as a duet.

                Lazlore circled around the girls again.  "And just think if Shadowdancer has infected Master Rune with them.  She could have him wrapped around her little finger.  My father always complained how many of the world's greatest mages were ruined by women."

                "See?" Delly nodded in agreement.  "This is why we need to keep an eye on her.  Who knows what she's up to."

                The notion of cooties did give Lina a few thoughts of concern for her mentor.  What if what Laz and Delly said was true?  This could mean big trouble for them farther down the road.  

                "Guys, I think you're right," Lina looked to her two companions.  "Maybe we should watch over Rune.  We can't…Laz, would you stand still!"  Constantly trying to follow him around the room was getting annoying and it hurt her neck.  With him moving in his never-ending circle she had to keep craning her neck so as not to lose sight of him.  "You're making me dizzy!"

                "Whoops!  Sorry.  Just give me a second."

                "What is he doing?" Delly asked as she watched him move farther down the hall.

                Lina began tapping her foot against the floor as she waited impatiently.  "Why are you asking me?  Do I look like I know what goes through his head?"

                "Well, you both are human," came the snide remark.

                "I'm sorry.  Did you say something?" Lina snorted.

                "Don't act like you didn't hear me."

                "You're assuming I even listen to you in the first place."

                One pointed ear twitched at the irritating remark.  "You little—"

                _"Look out!"_

                The girls were forced to jump to either side or be squashed as the Lazlore came speeding down the hallway again in the opposite direction.  With a loud _THUD the blond haired boy crashed face-first into the wall behind them._

                "Itai…" he slumped to the floor, clutching at his flattened nose. His glasses followed him a moment later.

                They rushed to their teary-eyed peer's aid.

                "What did you do that for?" Lina asked while she grabbed his shoulders, forcing him into a sitting position while Delly started a healing spell to prevent any bleeding or bruising.

                "To stop…" he rubbed at the sore spot.  "I haven't decided where to put the brakes on these things yet.  Itai…"

                "Stop that!" the elf scolded, batting his hand away.  "You mess up the spell every time you do that, and I have to start over."

                "Brakes?" Lina glanced down at his feet.  Tied to the bottom of each boot was a set of four small gray wheels.  Each one was about two inches wide and two inches tall.  What new toy was he tinkering with this time?

                A minute passed and the healing for his nose was complete.  He sniffed once and looked at Lina, immediately noticing where her attention fell.  "This is my new invention," he wiggled his foot around to demonstrate.  "They allow me to move about without having to strain myself with the burden of walking or running.  All I have to do is give them a push every now and then, like I was doing earlier, and I can move around freely.  But I still need to put in the brakes."

                _Silly boy and his crazy inventions… Lina grinned.  She noted Delly was silent.  It seemed she was even intrigued by the new discovery.  "So how do these things work?"_

                With a smile he grabbed one of his feet, twisting the foot around so she could see the bottom of his boot.  If Lazlore loved anything more than playing with his inventions, it was explaining how they worked.  "See how there are two sets of wheels; one placed behind the other?  They're all equally spaced out so my weight is evenly distributed when I stand on them.  Right now I have them connected to these braces so I can simply strap them to my boots whenever I want to.

                "Once all that is done I shift my weight onto one foot and then push off with it."  He paused to replace his wire spectacles on his nose.  "Last night I went out and practiced all over the town square.  No one was there so I had plenty of room.  I found out I can move pretty fast—not as fast as a man running his fastest, but I can still move pretty fast.  And I can keep doing it without getting tired.  It's really easy," he beamed.  "Wanna try?"

                "Maybe later," _after you build the brakes, she added mentally._

                "What do you call them?" Delly asked.

                "Sandlewagons!" the boy beamed happily.

                A giant sweatdrop clung to Lina's head.  "Sandlewagons?"

                "Yup."

                "That's stupid."

                "I like sandlewagons," Lazlore pouted.

                "She is right," the elf maiden agreed.  "It is a rather ridiculous name."

                Lazlore's face heated to a bright red.  "Oh yea?  Why don't you two come up with a better name!"

                "Okay," Lina smiled.  "How about _footwheels__?"_

                "That name sucks!"

                "Footwheels?" Delly arched an eyebrow toward her female companion.

                "Yea, footwheels!" Lina continued on as if she never heard the two.  "That's a cool name!  And that's what I'm gonna call them!  Footwheels!  I am such a genius sorceress!"

                "Hey, I invented them!" the boy protested as he tried to steal back the credit that was his.  "I'm the genius!"

                "I'm the genius!  I came up with a better name!"

                "They're _my invention!  I'm the genius!"_

                "No, I am!"

                "I am!"

                "Are not!"

                "Are too!"

                "Are not!"

                "Are too!"

                "Oh, would you two stop already!" Delly burst out loud.  "We have more important matters of concern than who should get credit for creating those stupid…things."

                "They are _not stupid!"_

                "Alright.  They're not stupid, but even so…we do have other things we need to be on the look out for.  I say we sneak into _you-know-who's room and find that mysterious box.  I for one want to know what she has in it."_

                "You still want to do that?" Lina groaned, keeping her voice down low to ward off any unseen ears.  "Rune has already caught you once.  Keep this up and we'll all be in trouble."

                "Lina, I think she has a point," Lazlore's voice breathed softly into her ear.  "What if Delly is right?  What if Shadowdancer does have Master Rune charmed with some type of Women's Magic?  He could be in big trouble and never realize it.  I've seen plenty of other students in the same situation.  You wouldn't believe the strange things they do.  Like yesterday, I saw Jerome buying all sorts of gifts for Venesa at the market.  He must have spent nearly five gold on chocolate and flowers alone.  Then she went shopping and made him carry all the packages she bought."

                "Maybe we should check up on them."  The thought of Rune under the control of someone else was unsettling in Lina's mind.

                "Hah!" Delly laughed triumphantly.  "My words of wisdom have finally managed to soak in through those thick skulls of yours!  I told you drow can't be trusted."  Grabbing each of her peers by the hand, she began to pull them toward the door.  "Come on.  First thing we need to do is sneak into Master Rune's study and open that enchanted chest of hers."

                "Not so fast!" Lina snatched her hand back.  "Just a second.  I need to let my mom know where I'm going.  Mom, I'm off to Rune's!"

                "Already?" her mother's head popped out from the kitchen doorway.  "I thought you wanted some more pancakes?…"  Katrina's voice drifted off when she noticed Lazlore and Delly standing alongside Lina.  "Oh, we have guests."

                Delly curtsied then smiled.  "Good morning, Lady Inverse."

                Lazlore quickly followed her example.  "Hello, Mrs….Mom," Lazlore caught himself. He'd been in the Inverse household long enough that Lina's mother insisted that he call her "Mom" as Lina did.  Katrina had taken the young mage under her wing, but Lazlore still had to fight the habit of calling her 'Mrs. Inverse.' Laz grinned at his surrogate mother and pushed his glasses up his nose.

                "Hello, children," she smiled, holding a stack of blueberry pancakes.  "We were having breakfast.  Would you care to join us?  We're having blueberry pancakes."

                The other two looked at Lina.  Lazlore's tummy rumbled at the mention and the sight of pancakes. Delly rolled her eyes, but looked back at the plate in Katrina's hand.

                "Oh I guess we have time," the flame haired child replied.  "Let's eat!"

                Into the kitchen they marched.  Within a few minutes Katrina had breakfast ready and waiting for them.  Each of their plates were stacked high similar to the one Lina had eaten earlier.  Pitchers of cool, fresh milk and fruit juices sat ready to be poured. Pots of yummy homemade toppings and sweet, golden honey waited to be dribbled. Lina and Lazlore instantly dug into the blue-speckled hot cakes while Delly stared dumbfounded at the plate that was piled high with food.  Being the only member of the Terrible Trio who had not eaten at the Inverse household before, she was unaccustomed and unprepared for the amount that had been set out for her.

                "Um…is this all for me?" the elf asked with a nervous twitch.

                "Is something wrong, Delly?" Katrina teased.  "Perhaps it is not enough.  Would you like some more?"

                Lina swallowed another mouthful and grinned.  "Don't worry, Delly.  Mom always fixes more than enough food to feed an army."

                "Really?  Gee…that's um…" Her eyes bulged out as Katrina added more pancakes to her plate, making each of the three stacks half again as tall.  "All of this is really just for me?"

                "More?" the pan was offered with another set of fresh hot cakes waiting to be claimed.

                "Geh…no thank you.  This is plenty for me."  Delly eyed the plate.  She wasn't sure if she would be able to finish even half of it now.

                "Better hurry and finish that, Delly," Lazlore snickered, briefly looking up from his plate.  "We don't want to be late for class." He wolfed down a stack, gulped down a tall glass of milk and held out his plate for more, just as Lina did. Katrina beamed, ruffled their bangs affectionately, and filled the empty plates to overflowing once more. "Unless you need help," the artificer-in-training offered, before diving hungrily into his meal.

                _You'd think he hadn't eaten breakfast at the Guild already!  She narrowed her eyes at the boy.  "Pass the syrup, please."  With a sigh, she set into the task before her._

***

                His gentle fingers traced the length of the blade, marveling at the craftsmanship, both magical and non-magical, that must have gone into forging such a questionable item.  It was a beautiful yet grotesque piece of work.

                The hilt guard was composed of a dragon's skull with the crimson double-edged blade protruding forth from the open maw.  A simple spine-like protrusion  from the base of the skull served as the handle while a pair of reptilian wings stretched out to either side, providing further protection as part of the hilt guard.

                The material of the magical weapon itself seemed to pulse with a beat of its own unnatural life.  At his touch streams of magical energies shot forth, caressing at his fingertips with the intimate touch of a lover.  It was an intoxicating feeling promising power and wealth, anything beyond one could ever dream of.  All that was required in exchange was the fulfillment of one simple demand…

                _Surrender to me…_

                "It's sentient," Rune whispered breathlessly as he snatched his hand away.  His ruby eyes were wide, having sensed the power that lay in the heart of the blade.  "And it is also very, very evil."

                His companion, the auburn haired drow female that barely came up to his chest, approached the table of which the sword was lying upon.  Producing a small wool blanket from her sleeve, the dark elf carefully wrapped the sword within the makeshift sheath, being especially careful not to touch the blade itself.  Once she was completely certain it was safely bundled up did she return her full attention back to the blue haired mage.

                "A little over a week ago I relieved this, along with a matching suit of armor, from the hands of several human mages," Shadowdancer explained as she used a piece of twine to tie off each end of the blanket.

                The mage cast a suspicious glare at his friend.  "That wouldn't happen to have been around Elmekia, wouldn't it?" he asked, arching an eyebrow her way.

                "It was," she admitted with a smile.  "Has news of my little escapade managed to reach the ears of the mages all the way out here?  So quickly too!  Amazing."

                "That _'little escapade' as you put it has netted a bounty on your head for about five thousand gold pieces," Rune scolded.  "The mages that survived the destruction of the guild there must really want it back.  What were—"_

                "Five thousand?" Shadowdancer mused.  "That's _all?"  For a moment, Rune felt like shaking her.  She sounded so disappointed!_

                "Oh get over yourself."  The true value of her talents was not something he wanted to debate at the moment.  "What were you doing in Elemkia, and what were those third-rate excuses for wizards doing with something this powerful?"

                The drow sighed, putting on a tired smile for her friend.  Where to begin?  There was so much to tell.  "The sword I have shown you is but part of a weapon known as the Dragonsbane Regalia.  The matching armor, which comprises the rest of it, is safely locked away inside my chest.  Together they form a formidable weapon created by one of the five Mazoku Lords, specifically Deep Sea Dolphin, to hunt Ryuzoku.  The sentience you felt reach out to you was part of the essence of a Mazoku that was infused within the weapon to increase its power.  

                "As for the mage guild in Elmekia, I am not aware of how the Regalia came to be in their possession.  I simply did not have time to uncover that information.  When I received word they had it in their possession I immediately set off to retrieve the weapon."

                "Well, we know the outcome to this story, don't we?  So tell me, were you also responsible for destroying the guild?"  Shadowdancer was more than capable of doing so, he knew.  Rune _also knew that in her mind, the lives of two hundred or more mages weighed against the havoc the Mazoku could wreak on the world with such a weapon was a very cheap price to pay._

                She chuckled at his snide remark.  "Sorry to disappoint you, but no.  I'm afraid credit for that goes to a mid-level Mazoku.  No sooner had I escaped from the guild did the Mazoku level the entire place."  She grinned at him and winked.  "I suppose it was _very upset at not having been able to rescue the Regalia nor kill me."_

                That made him feel a little easier.  A _lot easier, actually._

                "So why bring it here?  I'm no artificer."

                "I need your help to destroy it."

                "You think I have the time to spare to research that thing and devise a way to dispose of it properly?  Have you looked at my students?  I have my hands full trying to prevent them from blowing up the guild daily."

                Shadowdancer's midnight-blue eyes widened in shock.  "You mean an occurrence such as the one yesterday is common place with them?"

                "As if you never did anything destructive in your time, but yes, it is a daily routine for them.  Just last week they nearly flooded the basement.  Lazlore borrowed a Decanter of Endless Water from his father for an experiment.  He ended up losing the lid to it, and by the time he told me about it there was three feet of water in the room he had left the decanter in."

                Shadowdancer couldn't help but giggle.

                "Oh that's not all.  A few days ago Lina accidentally left a bottle of invisible ink in my study.  I wrote nearly half a dozen scrolls before I realized the words would disappear a few minutes after I had finished.

                "Then there is Delly.  A month ago she managed to learn the enlarge spell.  Tell me, have you ever had to deal with a fifty foot long rat?"

                "No, but I have fought a fifty foot slug before…" the dark elf shook her head at the blue haired mage. "If they cause you so much grief why do you continue to teach them?"

                Rune smiled.  "Each of those children has a great potential for magic, so much that I believe they could even rival the mages of old.  If they were tutored by anyone else their talents would all be put to waste by some old fogey who wouldn't want to be shown up by his own apprentice.

                "I have actually taught those children very little, only what they needed to know.  I taught them how a spell matrix works, and that is all.  Whenever I give them an assignment I never tell them how to do things.  I tell them what I want done and let them surprise me with their results.  Even you would be surprised if you saw what they can do, Shadowdancer.

                "I allow them this freedom so they may work to their full potential.  Unfortunately, it does have its ill side effects as you've seen.  I've already lost my dividends from the guild for the quite some time.  If I were anyone else I wouldn't recommend someone do as I've done.  Most mages have neither the funds nor the patience to support their activities."

                The dark elf chuckled to herself.  "You sound like the teachers I had when I was their age…with one fundamental difference.  They don't have to come close to killing you to show they've succeeded."

                Random images of the Terrible Trio throwing fireballs, mono volts, and other dangerous spells came to mind.  It was a bit of an unsettling thought.  "I should hope not," he replied with a sour tone.

                "But that is why I am asking for your help—"

                "I told you I don't have the time," Rune snapped.  "If you need the help of a good artificer I can recommend you to Laz's father, Lezard Ragandi.  Well, being an artificer is more of a hobby for him.  He mostly deals with research involving alchemy and homunculi, but he's still one of the best artificers around.  His wife, Lenneth, even gives him a hand from time-to-time as she is a chimera specialist."

.               "You seem to misunderstand what I need.  I don't want help from Lezard.  I want it from you!  I simply don't have the time to find this Lezard, and you, I know, I can trust not to be influenced by this _thing," she gestured towards the folded up blanket.  "The Regalia also has the uncanny knack for slipping into people's minds to manipulate their actions."_

                "Oh really?  And how would you know so much about it?"

                "It has been tempting me to take and use its powers to hunt Mazoku with." Shadowdancer retorted, impatiently. "It speaks to me, telling me to wield it…" her voice dropped to a whisper, and her eyes glazed over. "With it, I could sense the very presence of Mazoku in a city, and pinpoint their very locations…killing them would be easy…oh, so very easy…" A nearly feverish gleam overwrote the glaze of her eyes, dimming the star-like pinpoints in the dark blue irises. "I could more easily detect those who have been corrupted by Mazoku influence, and with a simple cut of the blade, sever their connections from their Mazoku puppet-masters…" 

                Rune froze. Even as she spoke, Shadowdancer's hand inched toward the wrapped and bound blade. Earlier, she would not have touched the blade with her bare hands. Now she spoke as though longing for a lover's passion, and the words of doom that tumbled from her lips turned his blood to ice. She longed for the pleasure of pain, of blood shed in murder… Rune snatched it from the table and held it out of reach. He gasped in surprise to feel the blade hot and alive even through the thick cloth of the blanket, felt it thrumming eagerly, shivering with a need to kill and destroy. Immediately, Shadowdancer turned on him with a snarl, her lovely hands curving into claws, eyes promising death only after she had ripped vengeance from his skin…

                "WAKE UP!" he yelled, tossing the living blade behind his chair and catching her as she lunged for it. He stumbled backward as her face hit against his chest, and he held her up from the ground, expecting her to kick him or claw at his face.

                She did neither, drawing a shuddering breath. Small dark brown hands went up to clutch at her tousled head. "No…lies…lies! I won't listen to you!" Shadowdancer said something in a tongue Rune did not understand, but recognized the chant as one of her disciplining mantras. She stiffened in his hands, then relaxed.

                Warily, Rune set her back on his feet, but kept his hands on her shoulders, ready to fling her across the room if need be, should she try to get past him again. "Shadow…?"

                "…Can I have some water please?" Rune led her over to a nearby easy chair and poured her cold, fresh spring water from a decanter. She gulped it hungrily as though she had just walked the breadth of the Desert of Destruction. Wordlessly, she held out the glass and he filled it again, his frown deepening as he noted the shaking of her hands. As the little drow drank, he looked at her with new scrutiny.

                When she finally put the glass down, she looked up at him with haunted eyes. "I know what you're thinking. As a dark elf I should have far better mental shields than this, am I not correct? Especially a drow priestess-mage such as myself…"

                Rune nodded. "Yet you nearly succumbed to the blade's spell." When she nodded, he looked even closer at her. "When was the last time you slept, Shadow? It's hard to tell with your complexion, but you've got dark circles under your eyes."

                "I cannot sleep." Shadowdancer said softly. "I did, once…when I could not resist the need. I woke and found myself far from where I had camped, the Regalia in my hand, and I was heading straight for a lair of some white dragons I knew of…" she shook herself of the memory like a wolf shaking water from it's fur. "That was nearly a month ago. It had been whispering to me, even if I try not to listen. It is always in my mind, in my dreams and every waking moment…" She shook herself again, hugging her arms as though cold. 

                Abruptly, she stood, eyes stony with resolve.  "And where," Rune drawled, "do you think _you're going?"_

                "To take the Regalia far away from here." She replied. "It's created to destroy dragons, and I'm too close to Dragon's Peak…"

                "Stop kidding yourself, Shadow. You wouldn't last another day with that infernal blade in your possession, certainly not without a good night's sleep…" Rune lazily waved his hand in the wrapped-up sword's direction, and sent it back into her trunk. When she looked at him, almost angrily, he held up a hand. "I should have known that you would ask for help only when you're desperate for it. And you're right…this thing shouldn't go to Lezard Ragandi. If the Regalia is cracking _your mental defenses, I'd hate to think of how quickly it would make short work of Lezard's."_

                "You do not have time." Shadowdancer replied simply.

                "I'll _make time. __You need rest. I don't fancy the idea of having to hunt you down and kill you after the damn blade's taken you over. That little hunting trip, I don't want to make at all…but I'll have to." He stood up and used the advantage of greater height to loom over her. "Especially if you hunt __him down."_

                Whatever stubborn fight was left in the smaller drow woman fled at that statement. She let her shoulders slump in defeat and sighed. "If I were to die at anyone's hands, I'd like it to be at yours, my friend." She managed a wry grin.

                Rune reached out and roughly messed up her hair some more. "Stone-headed drow." He rubbed his knuckles across her skull. "I'm a mage, not an executioner.  I don't _want to have to kill you, aren't you listening with those pointy ears of yours?" he pinched the tip of the nearest one. "Or are they just decorations after all?"_

                "Lazy human, too lazy to kill me even if you _wanted to." she chuckled. "Speaking of your students, where are they? Or have you no lessons this day?"_

                "I do have classes with them today," the mage turned to glance out the window.  Using the position of the sun as a time indicator, he frowned.  "They're late.  I had probably better go see what is keeping them.  But first, it's off to bed with you."

                "I'll be fine," the dark elf tried to argue.  "I can—"

                _"Hush," Rune silenced her by placing his finger over her lips.  "You can sleep in my room.  You won't be disturbed there.  I've cast a ward of silencing over the door so even if my students came in and blew up this room you would never hear a thing."_

                She gave him a funny look.  "Has that happened before?" She looked around, expecting to see scorch marks on the walls.

                He smiled.  "I'll just say I don't like loud wakeup calls."  One hand rose to point towards the bedroom door while the other grabbed Shadowdancer by the shoulder as she attempted to stifle a yawn.  "Time for bed and _no sneaking away.  You've already martyred yourself for five hundred years.  If you do it again __I will come and hunt you down."_

                Shadow managed a small laugh.  Relief washed through her at the thought of being able to get a decent amount of sleep.  "I won't run away."

                "You had better not.  I have wards set around this place that even you have never seen."

                "I find that hard to believe," she challenged, regaining some of the spark in her eyes.

                A snide grin spread over his face, the one that reminded her of a cat playing with a mouse it had just caught.  The mouse might believe it has a chance at escaping, but the cat knows better.  "Just try it," he warned.  "I won't be responsible for any lost limbs, deformations, curses, or other ailments that occur as a direct result of you trying to leave unexpectedly.  Attempting to dispel my wards won't work either.  I also have several mechanical locks in place that require a key, a combination, or even both."

                "I am to be your prisoner?" she pouted.

                "Consider yourself one until you've recovered your strength.  Now shoo!"  He opened the door to the bedroom, directing the dark elf inside.  "Get some sleep, else I will be forced to use a spell on you."

                "Thank you," she smiled, stifling another yawn.

                "No problem.  Pleasant dreams."  He shut the door behind her.  Once he heard the door catch he quickly double-tapped the handle with his finger, setting the magical lock to bar the door.

At the moment he had other things to worry about.  Right now he was wondering where his students were and why they were late.  It was unlike them to miss a lesson. Pausing to reset the wards on Shadowdancer's chest, the blue-haired mage realized he didn't know the command words for the warding spells that were woven into the wood of the trunk.  

_Well, I can't leave it lying open like this…Who knows what she has in here?_ His brow crinkled as he saw the more obvious things on top—clothes, random weaponry, some books and some cooking utensils. He knew that the chest was much deeper though, as he had once seen Shadow climb into and disappear completely inside. He also remembered that it had taken her a while before she showed up again with the item she had been looking for at the time. Rune smiled at the memory, then shook himself out of the past and into the present. He scowled for a moment in concentration, then cast in rapid succession a slew of wards and charms to protect the chest.

_That will have to do for now…_

                Before leaving he rose and listened at his bedroom door for a moment.  Hearing the thump of a body falling solidly onto the bed, he managed a chuckle.  He made for the door, making sure as he left all the magical wards and the mechanical locks were set throughout the room.  Even if Shadowdancer did attempt to leave it wouldn't be easy.  There was even a specially made ward on the door that was triggered to go off as a last resort of sorts.  Rune grinned.  If anyone tried to go in or out without knowing how to disable the ward, they would get a _very nasty surprise._

                With a final glance towards the bedroom he shut the door, unaware of the three pairs of eyes that watched his movements from down the hall.

***

                "Come on, Laz!  We don't have much time!"  

                "I'm trying."  Tinkering with the mechanical lock on the door was proving to be quite a challenge for the young artificer.  He had already been picking at it for well over five minutes.  Magical Constructs had given a brief crash course in lock picking for the future archeologists who would spend a fair amount of time digging through earth and hidden chests, but it had never covered anything this complicated.

                They had been watching from around the corner of the hall when they spotted their mentor exit out of his room.  With no sign of Shadowdancer they knew this would be their best chance of sneaking in to see what she had hidden in that magical chest of hers.  

                "Hurry up!" Lina whispered from farther up the hall.  The girls had taken watch on each side of the hall should any of the guild's staff be prancing around inconveniently.  Things would not go well if they were caught trying to sneak into Rune's quarters.  They had already hid three times, after Lina had dispelled the wards on the door.  They were lucky that no one had passed by for some time now.

                Lazlore continued to work, trying to unlock the catch.  "Why does Master Rune have a lock on his door anyway?  He's a powerful mage.  Why doesn't he just use more magical wards to keep people out?"

                "What?!" came the reply from the opposite direction.  "Didn't you pay attention at all to his lectures?  'Never put too much faith into magic for there will always be someone better than you.  Rezo, the Red Priest, may be one of the greatest mages of this time, but a mage of old such as Shazaard Rugandi easily dwarfs his abilities and understanding—'"

                He was tone-deaf to the rest of Delly's explanation, even if it did involve discussion of his distant ancestor's abilities.  His focus went back to the task at hand.  If he could just jiggle the pick this way and then move it that way…_click…_

                The door swung open without a sound.  "I got it!" he cheered.  "I got it open!"

                "Well, what are we waiting for?  Let's go in!"  

                "Delly, wait a second—"

                She already had one foot in the door.  "No time!  Someone could come along any minute."

                "But Delly, there's still one more magical—"

                "I bet I don't want to see this."  Lazlore covered his eyes with his hand to hide them from the next impending misfortune that was about to befall the elf.

                A muffled cry echoed from within the room of which Delly had disappeared into.

                "I did try to warn her."

                Lazlore dared a quick peek between his fingers.  "What happened to her?"

                "Take a look," Lina gestured.  "After you."

                Warily, he poked his head in.  The sight that greeted his eyes was a bit unusual.  All he saw was a pair of small feet standing in a growing puddle of water.  Everything else was hidden from view beneath a giant overturned washtub.

                "Um…Delly?"

                A pair of gloved hands moved into view as they came out from beneath the wooden tub to grip the rim.  The tub was flipped over and away, landing with a thump several feet away before evaporating into the air.  Revealed before him was a shivering and blue-faced elf soaked to the bone.

                _"C-c-cold…" her teeth chattered out in response as her arms hugged each other, trying to retain as much body heat in as they could.  Her usual shiny blond hair now clung to the sides of her face in soggy wet clumps.  Water dripped everywhere from her, feeding the puddle at her feet.  The green dress she had worn had soaked up a good portion of the water and now looked like a wet rag._

                "What happened?" the confused Lazlore scratched his head.

                Lina came up behind him.  "That was the last ward on the door.  Anyone who doesn't use a key has to watch out or have a tub full of water summoned from the icy north dumped on them.  It happened to me once.  It's not fun."

                _"Achooo!" Delly agreed._

                "Wow!" Lazlore exclaimed, peering at their drenched elf friend.  "You've got _icicles hanging off your ears!"_

                "Here," Lina guided her over to the fireplace where a small pile of kindling had been neatly stacked on end, ready and begging to be used.  Plopping the elf onto the bearskin rug in front, she spoke, "You sit here while I start a fire.  Laz, you try to find that chest.  I bet Rune went out to look for us so we won't have much time."

                "Right."  And off went Lazlore to immediately search around the room.

                Several Flare Arrows later they had a small blaze going for Delly to warm up with.  Meanwhile, Lazlore shuffled through the room, looking behind the chairs, under Rune's desk, and even behind the bookcase until at last he discovered what he sought hidden in the far corner of the room.

                "Here we go!" he hefted the black oak chest onto the table in the main room.  "I found it!"

                "G-g-good job," Delly stuttered from where she huddled in front of the fireplace.   With Lina's dry cape wrapped around her shoulders and the growing heat of the fire, she was slowly beginning to show signs of thawing out.  Most of the icicles had melted enough to the point where they lost their cohesion with her skin, falling to the stone floor in groups.  The cold numbness that had consumed her body was slowly being replaced with a faint tingling sensation as circulation began to work itself back into her limbs.  But despite all of it her body still convulsed with the occasional shiver.  "N-n-now we can expose that d-d-dirty namagomi for all that she _isssssaaachooo!!!"_

                Lazlore's greedy fingers roamed over the smooth surface of the hardwood, trying to feel for a crack, seam, or even a hinge that might open, but he found none.  "How do you suppose we should go about opening this?"

                Lina walked over, pushing the young artificer out of the way.  Using her mage sight she carefully glanced over the chest, giving it her own personal inspection.  Strange.  The magical weavings of the wards were very similar to those that Rune regularly used.  There was only one major difference that separated these from his others:  The weave of the spells used here had been made tighter as if they were set in place to seal away whatever it was they were protecting.  It sort of resembled a cage more than the typical protection spell.

                "Can you get it open?"

                "I think so."  Even with as tight as the weave was, she might be able to loosen the strands of magical energy enough so that with Delly's help they could temporarily disable the wards.  It might take a little bit of time, but she was sure they could do it.

                Lina smiled.  She loved a challenge.  Stretching both arms out with her fingers interlocked between each other, she popped her knuckles to warm them up for some heavy-duty spell casting.  "Laz, stand back!  Let the genius sorceress supreme do all the work.  Time to crack this baby open!"


	4. Magical Mayhem

**Slayers Magical School **

**Chapter 4**

A gentle prod here, a quick tug there, and another magical thread in the weave was freed. Only a few more to go and the protective ward would be completely disabled. Lina Inverse, junior sorceress supreme, paused long enough in her work to take a deep breath. The slightest nudge in the wrong place could set it off so she had to be extremely careful, never mind the fact she had done this countless times with other similar wards. It only took one mistake.

The eight-year-old sorceress concentrated hard, feeling the sweat bead on her forehead. The last thread slipped out. The ward surrendered in a colorful show of magical energies that dispersed into the air like a tiny flock of birds. The trunk, which only moments ago had appeared as a single seamless piece of wood, was now like any other normal wooden trunk.

Lina looked up at her two confidants wearing a very smug look. "Ta da! I've done it. The ward is dispelled!"

Lazlore Ragandi, child prodigy of the Dark Alchemist and Delly Truxa, an elf girl of noble blood, breathed an easy sigh of relief. Disabling wards was nothing new for Lina, but the fact they were attempting the feat against a ward their mentor had cast was enough to put them on edge. To say things would not have been pleasant had they been caught was an understatement.

There was also the fact the trunk they were breaking into belonged to a drow.

"Well, let's open this up and see what prize we won!" Lina cried triumphantly. She started to reach for the lid.

Quick as a whip Delly's hand shot out to slap Lina's away. "Don't touch that!" she snapped.

"Hey!" the flame haired child glanced up angrily. "What was that for?"

"Careful," Delly chided. "The drow have been known to booby-trap their belongings to keep unwanted hands off of them."

"Booby-traps?" Lina suddenly sounded very worried.

Lazlore was gazing at the trunk with considerable intent. "What kind of booby-traps?"

"Well…" the elf paused to think for a moment.

"Are they dangerous?"

"Hush. Let me think. I'm trying to remember."

"Could we disable them with magic?"

"A drow wouldn't want to kill us, would she?"

Delly fixed a harsh eye on the boy, her disdain for drow so readily apparent that it encased her in a burning aura of hate. "I'll pretend you didn't ask such a foolish question. Drow kill for no other reason than to kill! Causing pain to others is fun for them! Why, if you ever find yourself facing a drow, count yourself lucky if they _only_ kill you!"

By the look in her eyes, Lina could tell that Delly was about to start off on another one of her 'I know more than you and here's why," speeches. Since they didn't have five hours to kill and she really didn't want to hear it anyway, Lina butted in. "Would you stop trying to scare him. You were going to tell us what kind of traps could be on this thing, remember?

Delly blinked, as if coming awake from a trance. "Oh, yes, you're right for once."

"What was that?"

She ignored her. "Hm, traps…I really don't know where to begin. The drow use so many different methods."

"Well, that doesn't help us!" Lazlore whined. "What happens if Lina opens the trunk expecting a fireball and instead gets her arm cut off?"

That mental image didn't settle very well with the flame haired sorceress. In fact, she suddenly didn't want to be nearly so close to the trunk. A little more distance between them sounded like a good idea. The other side of the room perhaps.

"No, the trap wouldn't be nearly so simple," Delly replied, lost in thought again. "It would be more devious, more evil. I imagine her arm would be cut off, turned into a giant spider, and then ordered to attack her. Drow are vile like that."

"Laz, why don't you open it?" Lina suggested from behind the safety of Rune's desk.

_"Me?" _the boy cried in alarm. "Why me?"

Her head popped out above her hiding space so he could see her. "Sure! I've disabled all the magical wards, and you are the one who is the most enthusiastic to see this thing. You should be the one to open it."

"Uh…"

"You are the artificer, after all," Delly pointed out. "This would be good practice for you." She glanced over to where Lina was standing and frowned. "What are you doing over there?"

"Do you think I want to get my arm cut off, turned into a spider, and have it ordered to attack me? Of course not! Why else would I be over here?"

"So I should open it instead?" Lazlore sweatdropped. After a moment he regained his composure and lifted a finger to Delly. "Why didn't you ask her to do it? She is an elf, plus she is familiar with their methods."

Delly's face paled. "I don't want to open it! Something bad might happen! And what do you mean I'm an _elf_! Are you implying something?"

"Well, you both have pointed ears. And you are both elves." If looks could kill Delly's eyes would be shooting out needles, and he would be a pincushion. He slowly began to edge away.

Lina snickered. "He does have a point, Delly. You are both elves. Who knows, maybe regular elves are just albino drow."

Delly spun. "Consider yourself lucky you aren't an elf, Lina Inverse!" she spat. "By honor law, I would have every right to challenge you to a duel to the death!"

"You're making an exception for me? How kind of you."

"That wasn't a compliment!"

"Yes, it was. Since I'm not an elf I don't have to challenge people to stupid duels over silly things."

"Silly things…? Grrrr!" Delly's face started to turn red.

"Um, shouldn't someone open the trunk? Someone not me?" Lazlore said in a quiet voice. No one paid him any heed.

All of a sudden Delly seemed to explode like a fireball. Words started to spew out of her mouth in rapid succession. They came out so quickly Lazlore was hard pressed to make out what they said. Those that he could understand he knew were in elven. He also knew they weren't very flattering. Lina wasn't familiar with the elven language, but then, when a person started shouting up a storm in any language similar to the way Delly was it didn't take much to guess that she was being cursed at.

Normally, Lina would have retaliated with several dozen volleys of flare arrows, but she suddenly remember an interesting spell she had come across after sneaking a peek into one of her mentor's spell books. In her mind she went through the incantations several times. She wanted to make sure she had them correct. Delly's eyes were tightly shut as she shouted. She wouldn't see the spell coming.

Lina smiled evilly. She spoke the words of power.

The room, which had previously been filled with Delly's never ending stream of heated words, instantly went still.

Lazlore, confused, switched his gaze from Lina to Delly, to Lina, then back to Delly again. The elf's mouth still moved but no sound came out. He looked at Lina again. "You caught her in a sphere of silence, didn't you?"

Lina nodded, her eyes never leaving the elf.

It was only another moment before the Delly noticed something amiss, although she wasn't sure of what. She tried to call out to Lina. No sound came out. The look of fear that swept over her face made Lina laugh out loud. As Delly began to regain control of her emotions the fear turned back to anger.

Lazlore had to admit he had never seen Delly's face turn that shade of red before. "Uh, Lina, shouldn't you…give Delly her voice back?"

"She'll regain it soon enough," the sorceress replied once her laughing fit had passed. Since Delly was caught in a sphere that nullified all sound, Lina knew she couldn't hear them so she quickly grabbed a quill and paper from Rune's desk and explained to her what she had done. And before Delly could jump her she pointedly reminded her of the trunk. That seemed to get her to cool off.

"Okay, Laz. Go ahead and open the trunk," Lina said as she tossed the paper she had used into the fire. Leave no evidence that they were doing something they shouldn't have been.

He looked up again. "Why me?"

"Because you started all this."

"But I didn't do anything! It was all you and Delly!"

"No, you made the comment that both she and Shadowdancer are elves," Lina said matter-of-fact. "That started this."

"But they are—What the?" Lazlore flinched as a wadded up sheet of paper bounced off his head. He looked over in the direction it had come from to see a very silent and fuming Delly pointing at the trunk.

"See?" Lina smiled, winningly. "Delly agrees with me."

Lazlore blinked owlishly behind his spectacles. "You don't know that! She can't hear us, and we can't hear her!"

Lina crossed her arms and began tapping her foot impatiently against the wood floor. "We won't get anything done until you open it."

"Um…I don't think—"

"Go ahead. Open it."

"But—"

"I said _OPEN IT!"_

Lazlore, his mouth agape, kept glancing between the two sorceresses looking for some sign they might let him escape, just this once. Their firm gaze said he would receive no such mercy. Finally, he gave in to defeat. "Why can't I ever win against you two?" he sighed.

"Because you're outnumbered," Lina teased.

He approached the wooden trunk. Delly and Lina took cover behind Rune's desk and watched from around the corner. Lazlore reached out, his hand moving closer, inch by inch, until it was resting on the lid. "Here goes," he warned.

Cautiously, as if he were afraid the trunk would explode any moment, he began to push the lid up. It groaned as it rocked back on the hinges until it was standing up straight. Surprisingly, nothing happened. The room echoed with their sighs of relief.

Lazlore laid his hand on the lip of the open trunk before turning to the girls. "I guess it's not booby-trapped." Without warning, like a giant, gaping maw, the lid clamped down on Lazlore's hand. "AH!" he screamed, pulling on his trapped hand that wouldn't budge. "IT'S GOT ME! HELP!"

Both girls screamed. Well, Lina screamed. Delly was still silent.

"HELP ME! IT'S EATING MY ARM!"

"We're coming, Laz!" Lina dashed over, taking hold of his free arm. Delly followed her example. "We won't let it eat you!"

"HURRY! PULL! BEFORE IT STARTS DIGESTING MY BRAIN!"

"On three!" Lina mouthed to Delly. "One. Two. Three!" Together the two girls pulled with all the strength they could muster, which turned out to be much more than they needed. Lazlore's arm came free surprisingly easy, and the Terrible Trio collapsed to the floor. The girls were already up again, jumping to heal Lazlore's injured arm. The first time they grabbed the wrong arm. They reached for the other one. It was in perfect condition as well.

The girls stopped and blinked, looking to one another with the same confused expression. One arm had been attack by the trunk, hadn't it? If one arm was untouched then the other had to be…but if they were both uninjured, then how could…? They looked down at Lazlore who was still sitting on the floor.

He was laughing, although no sound escaped his lips. The sphere of silence centered on Delly was negating everything. She stood up and moved away so Lina could hear what Lazlore was saying.

"Hahahaha! I fooled you guys good!" the boy laughed, flashing his open and uninjured palm at the girls. "You really thought it had me, didn't you? Hahahahaha!"

Lina glanced back, drawing her fingers across her throat. Delly nodded. They needed no words to realize what the other was thinking at that moment.

Like a pack of hungry wolves, they closed in on their prey. Lazlore was laughing so hard he didn't notice what they were doing until it was too late. Lina grabbed one arm. Delly grabbed the other. They scooped up the blond haired boy, dragging him across the floor to the trunk. Lazlore squirmed and protested but no one could hear his words, little good they would have done him anyway. Not missing a stride, the girls picked him up and stuffed him into the trunk, promptly shutting the lid on him. Delly sat down on it for good measure.

"That'll teach him!"

Delly looked up at Lina, a surprised expression plastered across her face. "Hey, I can hear you again!" she cried in delight, a beaming smile on her face. "I can talk! The spell must have worn off!"

"Lucky," Lina droned in a not-so-enthusiastic voice.

The sound of a key being inserted into the door interrupted their celebration.

"Oh, crap!" Lina paled. "We have to hide the trunk! Lazlore's still in there! We can't let Rune find it until we get him out."

"I have an idea!" Quickly, before Lina could protest, Delly pushed the trunk over to the table. Removing her cape, she draped it over the trunk. "Come on! Hurry and sit down," she said, waving Lina over. She hopped on the trunk again. "Take one of the other seats. We can pretend we are waiting on Lazlore."

Lina had to admit it sounded like a good idea. She joined the elf at the table. No sooner had she taken a seat than did the door open.

"Good morning, Master Rune!" the girls chimed in unison as their mentor stepped in.

---

No sooner was Lazlore dumped into the trunk did the girls shut the lid on him, trapping him in darkness. The space inside wasn't very big. He had to lay with his legs curled up against his chest. It wasn't very comfortable either. There was something sharp and pointy poking him in the back. Deciding he didn't like this one bit, he started to rise to shove the lid open when he felt the objects beneath him shift slightly. Suddenly, without warning, Lazlore found himself falling.

Just as he was about to scream he hit bottom. Something soft broke his fall. Actually, it was more like several somethings. In fact, a whole lot of somethings. They easily caved under his weight. More rushed in from the sides, threatening to bury him alive. Lazlore struggled through the mess, swimming his way to the surface.

He broke free a moment later, gasping for air. Through the darkness he couldn't see a thing. A lighting spell remedied his problem. The dark retreated to a comfortable distance. He was in a room, a very large room. The trunk had to be enchanted to allow a larger dimensional space to be housed within it! If only he could examine it. The things he might learn from such an artifact!

But how was he to get out? A quick glance around the room revealed the trap door he had fallen through twenty feet above him. That wouldn't be difficult to reach. He only needed to employ a simple Ray Wing to get back.

Lazlore ran a hand through his long hair. Wait until the girls heard about this!

Something smooth and silky became entangled in his fingers. He drew his hand back. "What is this supposed to be?" he mumbled to himself. The lacy piece of cloth looked like underwear, but it couldn't possible cover anything up. It was scarcely more than a few strips of cloth. Where had this come from?

He looked down and found himself buried up to his chest in a pile of them. "Whoa," he felt his face heat. Maybe he had better get out of here.

---

"What are you two doing alone?" Rune asked puzzled, shutting the door behind him.

"Oh, nothing."

"Oh really?"

"Actually," Delly said sweetly, "we were waiting on you to begin our lesson. You are late."

He looked at them skeptically. He had never known any member of the Terrible Trio to show up without the other two. "And where is Lazlore?"

Lina struggled to come up with a quick explanation. "He's…uh…downstairs."

"What is he doing down there? I'm surprised you two aren't with him."

"He said he would only be a minute," Delly answer, "and that was ten minutes ago. I'm getting worried. Maybe someone should go check on him."

"Okay. I'll go find Lazlore. You two wait here." Rune started for the door.

The top of the trunk jumped suddenly, as if a great weight had slammed into it from the other side, lifting the elf above her seat a couple of inches before setting her back down. Rune heard the thump and spun around.

"I have the hiccups," she abruptly explained.

The trunk jumped again.

"Hic…" went Delly.

Lina put on her most innocent face—the one with big watery eyes—and smiled.

Rune fixed a hard eye on both of them. Something was going on, but since he couldn't prove anything he left the room.

The trunk jumped once more, this time with enough force to throw Delly from her seat. With the weight of the elf girl gone the top easily swung open. Lazlore popped out a moment later.

"Hey, don't do that again! It's dark in there!"

"You're one to talk!" Lina jumped up. "You nearly got us caught!"

"Is that why the lid was jammed shut? How was I to know? You guys threw me in there. I fell through a trap door. The only way I could get back up was to fly. It's not like I could see what was going on outside!"

Delly crept up beside him. There was a pink wad of cloth hanging from his shoulder. She pinched it between two fingers and gave Lazlore an odd look. She recognized the lacy garment for what it was. "What exactly _were_ you doing in there?"

He blushed nervously. "I landed in a pile of those. I guess one got stuck on me."

"Really?"

"Yes."

She didn't seem convinced.

"What?" he asked as Delly continued to give him strange looks.

Lina decided to steer the conversation back on the topic it was supposed to be covering. "So did you find anything while you were inside?"

"Oh, yes. Lots. You wouldn't believe how much room was inside. It's like the trunk is a portable room, possibly bigger. I didn't really get a chance to explore."

"You can tell us all about it at the table. Now get out of there before Rune gets back. He's out looking for you right now."

Lazlore was confused. "Why would he do that? You two are here."

"Did you want us to tell him you were in there doing…well, _whatever_ it was you were doing in there?" Delly spat.

"I wasn't doing anything!"

"You were doing something," Lina replied, grabbing a sleeve and pulling Lazlore out of the box. When he was clear she shut the lid. That was when the magic exploded from the trunk.

---

Three pairs of worried, frightened eyes stared out from the tangled mess of cobwebs. A single figure, youthful yet ancient, paced in front of them, thinking, brooding, angry yet silent. They followed his every move back and forth across the room. Back and forth. Back and forth.

Lina had never realized how loud the sound of silence could be, especially since she, Delly, and Lazlore were the ones listening. It wasn't as if they had much of a choice, tied up as they were. Apparently, shutting the lid on the trunk had set off a hidden ward, filling the air with a spray of magic. The threads had solidified into sticky webbing that clung to everything, including them, but it didn't stop there. The three of them had struggle of course. Strangely Delly was the first to be caught although she was the farthest away. Her arm had become entangled. With a shriek of terror, she tried to pull it free. Her movements only seemed to attract more of the webbing, and once she was sufficiently immobilized the magic folded her within a tight cocoon, spinning layer upon layer of filament until only the whites of her eyes could be seen peeking through. Lina and Lazlore hadn't fared much better.

Helpless to do anything else, they could only wait until their mentor returned. And face whatever punishment they imagined he would dish out for them. However, no nightmare they could dream up had prepared them for this.

Ever since his return, Rune hadn't said a thing. Not one word. The moment he returned and discovered the room painted in cobwebs his jaw dropped. His surprise was fleeting. His anger wasn't. The three of them had expected a speech, a lecture, or something that involved lots of loud vocals. Instead, Rune took one look at them, his eyes moving from one to the one next, taking his time as he inspected everyone to make sure they were unharmed, then began his pacing.

Rune shouting at them was the worst thing Lina thought could happen. She was finding his silence to be even more unsettling. If he was speaking she would at least have a clue as to what he was thinking. She had never seen him like this. Over the years she had caused a fair amount of damage and destruction, but she had never angered Rune, not really. Now she was worried she had done just that.

The minutes slowly ticked by. Soon a half hour had come and gone, then a whole one. Every so often Rune would look up from his pacing at them. They could clearly see he wore a frown and that his brow was lined with deep creases.

Finally, two hours later their waiting came to an end. Rune stopped his pacing and spoke, his red eyes glowing with irritation.

"I'm going to dispel the ward. You three are to return to your rooms. There will be no lesson today." He snapped his fingers. The magical webbing disappeared. Rune resumed his pacing.

Released from their bindings, the Terrible Trio landed on their feet. Lina and Lazlore started for the door without a word. Delly stayed behind.

"Master Rune, will there be a lesson tomorrow?"

He stopped without turning around. "I'll let you know when the lessons will resume."

Lina decided that they had definitely made Rune very angry.

"Come on, Delly. Let's go," Lazlore called from the door.

She didn't budge. "Master Rune, please understand, we were only worried the drow would cause trouble."

"The business I have with Shadowdancer is none of your concern. I thought blocking your attempt to scry made that perfectly clear."

Delly clutched a hand to her chest. She wouldn't have looked more hurt had she been slapped in the face.

"Are you going to punish us?" Lina asked. Her voice, normally loud, sounded small in the room.

He finally turned around. His red eyes danced to each of them as he spoke. "No, but I want you three to realize that I am very disappointed."

"We're sorry."

Rune nodded, but didn't say anything further.

Quietly, the three junior sorcerers left the room, shutting the door behind.


End file.
